The national economic downturn appears to be reversing the long-standing trend in which larger college endowments earn more than smaller endowments. Of course this year, the comparisons are about losses, not gains. The Wall Street Journal [1] reported that in the fiscal year ending today, the five largest college and university endowments anticipate final losses in the 25-30 percent range. But examining data from Northern Trust Corp., which manages 90 endowments, the Journal found that the median loss for endowments for institutions with less than $100 million was only 16 percent.