Drake, which has an enrollment of 5,300 and was founded in 1881, faced insolvency a little more than a decade ago after most of its senior management had left. But after taking over in 1999, Maxwell cut expensive underenrolled programs like graduate-level nursing and redirected resources into high-demand offerings like its undergraduate pharmacy major. For the last eight years Drake has shown small operating profits, and its endowment has grown to $169 million from $104 million in 1999. While Drake is still largely tuition-dependent, it earns a C+ for financial health among private colleges.