Since the economic downturn began in late 2008, more schools have slashed budgets, payrolls and services while trying to protect their core academic programs. Today, as the economic downturn persists, they are doing more of the same and coming up with ways to keep higher education a realistic goal for the masses. The author discusses how U.S. colleges and universities search for ways to function effectively on fewer resources and adapt to a sluggish national economic recovery. To help keep its enrollment steady and minimize the number of students dropping out because of economic hardship, Howard University, one of the nation's flagship HBCUs, boosted funding this year for its need-based scholarships to $10 million from $8.6 million for the 2009-2010 school year, the first in which Howard began awarding need-based assistance. Other schools, like Philander Smith College, have taken similar actions to support enrollment. The school boosted financial aid by 10 percent to $1.5 million, President Walter Kimbrough says.