With the economy spiraling out of control, NYU President John Sexton wrote to alleviate students' potential concerns.

In an e-mail to the NYU community yesterday, Sexton addressed NYU's recognition that the recession affects students' ability to pay tuition and more importantly, how the university will cope:

- Sexton said NYU will adopt the 're-engineering II' plan, which will 'expand annual administrative savings by another $10 million.' Combined with the original re-engineering program enacted to achieve the same goal, Sexton said he expects the university to save up to $40 million annually.

- Annual increases in tuition costs will be reduced compared to increases in previous years.

- NYU will continue to ensure the undergraduate financial aid budget increases at double the rate of tuition hikes.

- While NYU's endowment currently sits at just over $2 billion, this fund declined in value by a sizable 19.6 percent last year. Sexton claims that such losses were significantly less than those suffered by other major private research universities.

- Despite the recession, sponsors continue to fulfill endowment pledges.

In concluding his address to the university, Sexton reaffirmed that his administration will do everything possible to continue providing financial aid and increasing NYU's standing in the academic world.

' Taylor Miller is a deputy continuous news editor. E-mail him at tmiller@nyunews.com.