One out of three student-aid offices don’t know how much institutional grant aid their colleges will be able to award next year, and many expect their own operating budgets to be cut, according to the results of a survey released today by Student Lending Analytics, a company that helps colleges select lenders.

Thirty-nine percent of financial-aid administrators expect to see their operating budgets cut for 2009-10, the survey found, and 15 percent of respondents at public two-year colleges and 10 percent of those at public four-year colleges expect cuts of more than 10 percent. Financial-aid offices think budget cuts will affect conferences and travel, office equipment, and staff training.

Almost one-third of respondents said they did not yet know how much institutional aid would be available, and among public four-year colleges 45 percent were uncertain. Of the rest, about 20 percent expect grant aid to drop, and about 20 percent think it will rise.

The results draw on a Student Lending Analytics survey of 357 financial-aid administrators conducted on November 18 and 19. The company will be posting open-ended responses to questions about cost-saving measures on its blog. —Beckie Supiano