America's colleges and universities with the largest endowments
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the stock market tumbled with itthe investmentsof many colleges and universities across the country. But that changed with the 2021 fiscal year, marked by major U.S. central bank and fiscal stimulus, as their appropriations reported,strongest annual performanceof 35 years and increases of an average of 27%.
With reference to data fromThe National Association of College and University Business Managers,AccessSynidentified the 10 colleges and universities with the largest grants from the financial year 2021. The figures per students is based on autumn 2020's total enrollment including full-time students and graduate students.
If you're wondering why schools with huge endowments don't provide even more tuition aid than they do, one reason is that universities face restrictions on how the money can be spent. Endowments are typically intended to belong terminvestments and are designed to support the college or university many years into the future. Scholarship awardstypically payfor financial aid, salaries, academic programs and research, and campus improvements. Donors will often specify what the funds they contribute can be used for, whether it's scholarships or faculty positions.
Some of the recent headlines related to endowments come from public pressure on a school's financial obligations. Student activists often focus on endowments, as they do now when trying to force universities and colleges to divest from fossil fuels. The latest tactic, taken up in the spring of 2022 by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Yale, has been tofile a legal complaintcharges that the funds invested in fossil fuels are handled unwisely.
Universities will usually useless than 5%of their endowment each year and will stick with that number regardless of whether their investments do well or poorly. Read on to learn which universities have the largest endowments in the US
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#10. University of Michigan
– Ann Arbor, Michigan
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $17.0 billion
– Per full-time student: $297,938
– Growth since 2020: 32.4% (from $12.9 billion)
The University of Michigan's Board of Regents voted in 2021 to terminatethe school's investmentsin fossil fuels. One member, Mark Bernstein, credited student protests over the years for the change. He described the students as "thoughtful, well-informed, absolutely relentless and ultimately successful." The students' Climate Action Movement praised the move, but objected to the classification of natural gas as a sustainable investment. The university says it will shift its investments torenewable energyand work to ensure it has a "net-zero" carbon footprint by 2050. The university experienced astrong returnson its investments in fiscal year 2021, mainly due to venture capital and private equity funds.
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#9. Texas A&M University System
– College Station, Texas
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $18.0 billion
– Per full-time student: $146,772
– Growth since 2020: 32.6% (from $13.6 billion)
In 1876 Texas set aside more than1 million hectares of landto assist in the development of the Texas A&M University and University of Texas systems. Today, the universities earn through oil and gas leasing. ONElatest fundraising campaign,described by the system as the most ambitious capital campaign for higher education in Texas history, raised $4.2 billion for students and faculty. Thirty percent ofthe donationswill go to the system's colleges, another 20% to faculty and research and 19% to students. The endowment of the system ismanaged jointlymed University of Texas.
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#8. University of Notre Dame
– Notre Dame, Indiana
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $18.1 billion
– Per full-time student: $1.4 million
– Growth since 2020: 51.1% (from $12.0 billion)
42 percent of the allocations fromthe school's endowmentgofor scholarships and bursariesand 21% for academics and religious and student programs. The university coversfinancial needsof each bachelor student. Scholarship pool 2021return on investmentwas the second-highest for a one-year period in its history, the school reported. Ofits investments, nearly 46% were in private equities, 31.2% were in public stocks, and about 23% were in what's called a multi-strategy asset class, which includes a combination of stocks, bonds, real estate and cash. The university says its investments are weightedlong-term growth.
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#7. University of Pennsylvania
– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $20.5 billion
– Per full-time student: $878,050
– Growth since 2020: 38.0% (from $14.9 billion)
The University of Pennsylvania announced in 2021 that it wouldsuspend its obligationsto private equity dedicated to fossil fuel production. It already does not make direct investments in companies engaged in the production of fossil fuels. For members of the Students' Sustainability Association, the promise did not go far enough. They also want the university to repair damage caused byenvironmental racism. The universityhas set 2050as the date to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from its capital investments to zero.
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#6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
– Cambridge, Massachusetts
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $27.5 billion
– Per full-time student: $2.5 million
– Growth since 2020: 48.8% (from $18.5 billion)
Student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyfiled a complaint in 2022with the Massachusetts Attorney General over the university's failure to divest from fossil fuels. The activists with MIT Divest argued that the university is violating its fiduciary obligations as a nonprofit organization by continuing to invest in fossil fuels. They were joined by students at Princeton, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Yale universities whofiled similar complaintsin their states with the help of the Climate Defense Project. The students say that their schools do not meet the requirements ofAct on uniform prudent management of institutional funds,adopted by almost all states and whichsets standardsfor non-profit institutions and charities. MIT continues to invest apart of his endowmentin fossil fuels.
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#5. Princeton University
– Princeton, New Jersey
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $37.7 billion
– Per full-time student: $4.5 million
– Growth since 2020: 41.9% (from $26.6 billion)
In an article in The Nation, Princeton studentsagainst the university's fossil fuel investmentgave a conservative estimate of its value at $750 million. Princeton's investment return on its endowment since 2020 compares withan average annual returnover the past 10 years at 12.7% and over the past 20 years at 11.2%. 66 percent of Princeton'soperating incomeeach year comes from distributions from the endowment and other investment income. University officials note that today's financial situation is far from thatin the 1970s. During those decades, the school ran budget deficits, financial aid could not meet student needs, and salaries could not keep up with inflation.
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#4. Stanford University
– Stanford, Californien
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $37.8 billion
– Per full-time student: $2.4 million
– Growth since 2020: 30.6% (from $28.9 billion)
Stanford University's latest returns on its main investment vehicle, its merged pool, showed asignificant increaseabove 2020's 5.6% return and 2019's 6.5% return. The median return for US college and university endowments was 33.4%. Stanford disbursed $1.33 billion from the endowment for academic programs and financial aid and an additional $379 million for COVID-19-related expenses and revenue shortfalls. Students at Stanford, like their colleagues at MIT, Princeton, Vanderbilt and Yale, are putting pressure on the university to divest from fossil fuels.
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#3. Yale University
– New Haven, Connecticut
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $42.3 billion
– Per full-time student: $3.5 million
– Growth since 2020: 35.5% (from $31.2 billion)
At Yale University are members ofEndowment Justice Coalitionrequires full divestment from fossil energy. In 2021, the universityannounced principlesto invest in fossil fuels and designated companies ineligible for investment, but the students say that is not enough. Students at Harvard and other universities in the pastused a legal approachsimilar to the one implemented in 2022 to push their schools to divest entirely from fossil fuels. Harvardwithdrew its investmentsbut cited a goal of reaching "net-zero" greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
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#2. University of Texas System
– Austin, Texas
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $42.9 billion
– Per full-time student: $176,050
– Growth since 2020: 34.3% (from $32.0 billion)
The grant to the University of Texas System wassecond largest in the countryin 2021. It invests in both oil and gas as well as the state's abundant wind energy resources. The UT system has arrivedunder criticismfor its reliance on fossil fuels, particularly its investments in companies that use fracking. Students have also protested the investment in arms manufacturers, according to the student-run newspaperThe Daily Texan. The system's board of regents has appointed a$300 million endowment fundto help seven of its universities expand free tuition for lower-income students. They created a similar fund ($167 million) for UT Austin in 2019.
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#1. Harvard University
– Cambridge, Massachusetts
– Appropriation, fiscal year 2021: $51.9 billion
– Per full-time student: $2.3 million
– Growth since 2020: 27.9% (from $40.6 billion)
Harvard University haslargest grantamong colleges and universities consisting of more than14.000 midler. It distributed2 billion dollarsin the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, to cover more than a third of the university's $5 billion in operating expenses.
TheHarvard Prison Disvestment Campaigncriticizes the university for profitingprison industrial complex, whether from prisons that hold immigrants to private prisons that activists say disproportionately affect low-income families. Harvard says it only invests about $18,000 in the prison industry; The Harvard Divest Prison Campaign put the figure at nearly $3 million, including indirect investments. Harvard didn't quite manage to break awaySouth Africaduring the 1980s in the ultimately successful campaign to end apartheid, but it later divested itself of the tobacco industry and of oil production in Sudan between 2005 and 2006.
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(Video) Top 15 US Universities Endowment from 1990 to 2018
FAQs
America's colleges and universities with the largest endowments? ›
The five institutions with the largest endowments at the end of fiscal year 2020 were Harvard University ($42 billion), Yale University ($31 billion), The University of Texas System ($31 billion), Stanford University ($29 billion), and Princeton University ($26 billion).
Who has the largest endowment among US colleges and universities? ›Harvard University, with a $50.9 billion endowment as of 2022, is the wealthiest university in the world.
Which endowments skyrocket for the wealthiest colleges? ›Endowments Skyrocket for the Wealthiest Colleges. Private equity and venture capital performed especially well in fiscal year 2021, causing the largest university endowments to swell.
Why do universities need large endowments? ›University endowment funds are an important source of revenue for many higher education institutions. Endowment funds support the teaching, research, and public service missions of colleges and universities.
Who has the largest endowments in Ivy League? ›Harvard has an endowment of $51 billion, Yale has more than $41 billion, and Princeton has almost $36 billion.
What does a college endowment mean? ›Endowments are ongoing funds universities use to achieve short- and long-term goals. Donors can stipulate how and when an institution may use an endowment. Trustees usually invest part of the funds, using the returns to extend the life of an endowment.
What US school has the largest endowment? ›- Harvard. 7%
- MIT. 5%
- Stanford University. 5%
- University of Pennsylvania. 4%
- Columbia University. 4%
- Yale University. 4%
- Cornell. 3%
- Princeton University. 3%
Harvard also ranks first in the number of ultra-high net worth alumni with assets greater than $30 million. Harvard's total number of ultra-high net worth alumni is more than twice that of the next highest ranking institution, Stanford. These figures have not been adjusted for the relative size of these institutions.
What do most millionaires go to college for? ›Economics / Finance
It's probably no surprise to hear that studying Economics or finance can help to fast track you towards being a millionaire. But it's not quite as easy as simply studying how to make your fortune, with economics in particular often seen as more theoretical and behind the scenes.
Why can't colleges use their endowments? ›
To recap, then, endowment funds come with a lot of strings attached. They are frequently restricted by the purposes they can be used toward and the amount of funding they are allowed to expend. These restrictions are imposed by legal agreements, too. Violating them would bring consequences.
What are the 3 types of endowments? ›The FASB classifies endowments into three categories – true endowments, terms endowments, and quasi-endowments.
What do colleges do with all the money they make? ›How Do Colleges Spend Their Money? Nonprofit colleges and universities must reinvest their revenues in funding school programs, including scholarships, student aid, and athletics. For-profit colleges are not required to reinvest all of their revenues in school operations.
What is the hardest Ivy College to get into? ›Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the US and consistently ranks #1 hardest Ivy League to get into.
What is the richest University in the world? ›Harvard University is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of the richest universities according to endowment ranking, which has 40.9 billion USD.
Do most billionaires go to Ivy League schools? ›As you might expect, the colleges that produce the most billionaires are largely Ivy League universities.
Is endowment good or bad? ›Are endowment plans good? Endowment plans may be good for people who want to use them to fund certain savings goals. But compared to other types of life insurance, endowment plans have higher premiums, and you may see lower rates of return on the investment portion of the policy.
What is an endowment in simple terms? ›In simple terms, an endowment is a fund with money in it, set up to provide long-term support for a particular nonprofit organization or cause. Since the goal is long-term support, the organization or cause doesn't get all the money at once: It is made available to them a little at a time.
Why do universities need so much money? ›There are a lot of reasons — growing demand, rising financial aid, lower state funding, the exploding cost of administrators, bloated student amenities packages.
What is the richest high school in America? ›Most expensive private high schools in US: IMG Academy makes the list.
What is the most prestigious school in the United States? ›
Harvard University
This Ivy League school is the oldest higher education institution in the country and has the largest endowment of any school in the world. Harvard University is a private institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston.
An endowment is an aggregation of assets invested by a college or university to support its educational and re- search mission in perpetuity. It represents a compact between a donor and an institution and links past, current, and future generations.
What is the #1 hardest school to get into? ›Niche, a ranking and review site, recently published its list of the “2023 Hardest Colleges to Get Into.” Using data from the U.S. Department of Education on various colleges' acceptance rates and SAT/ACT scores, they found, unsurprisingly, Harvard University to be the most difficult college to get into.
What profession has the most millionaires? ›...
Ramsey Solutions recently conducted the largest survey of millionaires top five careers for millionaires are:
- Engineer.
- Accountant.
- Teacher.
- Executive management.
- Attorney.
And so what we see is that the average GPA, college GPA of American millionaires is actually 2.9. And while valedictorians generally score high in the personality trait of conscientiousness. What you see among the millionaires with their 2.9 GPAs is they're known for grit.
Which high school sends the most students to Harvard? ›AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) — The public Texas high school that sends the most students to Harvard, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is right here in Austin. Westlake ranked No.
What degree has the most billionaires? ›Fittingly, the most common subject matter for higher education was economics and finance, suggesting that when you know money, you know how to make money! Billionaires such as Warren Buffett, Alice Walton, and Elon Musk have degrees in economics.
Who are the richest Harvard graduates? ›Some billionaire alumni at Harvard include the Los Angeles Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and the founder and CEO of Citadel, Ken Griffin. At Yale, nearly all billionaire alumni come from two families: The Marses, of pet food and candy giant Mars Inc., and the oil-rich Bass family.
What major that makes the most money? ›- Accounting.
- Biomedical engineering.
- Mathematics or Statistics.
- Finance.
- Nursing.
- Information technology.
- Engineering.
- Computer science.
Across the board according to the 2021 physician wealth report, 56% of physicians reported a net worth of over a million. Out of family physicians, the majority become millionaires by the age of 55, with only 11% having a net worth of a million before 45.
What business makes the most millionaires? ›
The financial service industry has created the most millionaires in modern times. The financial system manages the money of people worldwide. Behind the most successful ventures in the world are people developing and growing money.
What will make colleges not accept you? ›- Failure to meet high GPA or test score standards.
- Insufficient academic rigor.
- Lack of demonstrated interest.
- Application essay errors.
- Poor fit.
- Academic integrity concerns.
- Competition.
People who argue that college is not worth it contend that the debt from college loans is too high and delays graduates from saving for retirement, buying a house, or getting married. They say many successful people never graduated from college and that many jobs, especially trades jobs, do not require college degrees.
Are endowments affected by inflation? ›Inflation erodes the economic value of an endowment fund by reducing the endowment's purchasing power over time.
What is the 20 rule for endowment? ›Your contributions in the second year of the investment are 20% or more above your total contributions in the first year. Your contributions in any other year of your investment are 20% or more above the higher of your total contributions in the previous two years.
What is the 5 spending rule for endowments? ›The IRS requires that private foundations must have annual adjusted qualifying distributions of at least 5% of the net value of noncharitable use assets.
What is the difference between a fund and an endowment? ›The major difference between an endowment fund and a typical investment fund – such as a mutual fund – is that the beneficiary of an endowment fund is a non-profit organization instead of individual investors.
What makes the most money right out of college? ›Chemical engineering majors take the top spot, as graduates earn a median annual salary of $75,000 shortly after college. In contrast, graduates with the lowest-paying major, theology and religion, make $36,000 within five years of graduation — less than half of what chemical engineers earn.
What is the difference between a college and a university? ›Colleges and universities primarily differ in program offerings and degree types. "University" refers to larger institutions offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. "College" refers to community colleges, technical schools, and liberal arts colleges.
Who makes more money college or no college? ›The earnings gap between college graduates and those with less education continues to widen. In 2021, median income for recent graduates reached $52,000 a year for bachelor's degree holders aged 22–27. For high school graduates the same age, median earnings are $30,000 a year.
What is the lowest GPA to get into Harvard? ›
Continue to work hard, take difficult classes, and show your passions outside of school! To get to Harvard your GPA has to be at least a 4.0 and even then if you get in your lucky but they require at least a 4.18 GPA only .
What is the lowest GPA to get into Ivy League? ›None of the Ivy League schools have a minimum GPA requirement for applications, which means anyone can apply regardless of their GPA.
What is the lowest GPA ever accepted Ivy League? ›And maybe, you can get into a top tier college with a low GPA. We've always stated that the lowest GPA student we've ever helped get into an Ivy League school had a 3.3 unweighted GPA. And we're not saying that we could get anyone in with a 3.3 GPA. But it has happened before – and the student was Asian American too.
What is the most expensive US college? ›| College | Tuition Cost |
|---|---|
| 1. Franklin & Marshall College | $65,652 |
| 2. Columbia University | $65,524 |
| 3. Reed College | $64,450 |
| 4. Vassar College | $63,840 |
Among the institutions with the lowest acceptance rate, colleges included, UCLA is the only public university with the lowest acceptance rate while the college with the lowest acceptance rate is Dartmouth College. The rest of the U.S. higher educational institutions with low acceptance rates are privately-owned.
What billionaire sends kids to college? ›A Manhattan billionaire bought a $37 million insurance policy — to get his kids into the right college, according to a new report.
Who is the billionaire from Harvard? ›Harvard University
Bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer are among the elites that graduated from the Ivy League institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
MIT billionaire alumni include brothers: Charles, David, and William Koch; as well as Dropbox CEO and co-founder, Drew Houston.
What is the #1 private college in America? ›| Private University Rank 2022 | US College Rank 2022 | University |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Harvard University |
| 2 | 2 | Stanford University |
| 3 | 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 4 | 4 | Yale University |
- Harvard. 7%
- MIT. 5%
- Stanford University. 5%
- University of Pennsylvania. 4%
- Columbia University. 4%
- Yale University. 4%
- Cornell. 3%
- Princeton University. 3%
How big is Johns Hopkins endowment? ›
The report put Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the No. 1 spot on its list of colleges with the highest sticker price. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the school charged $65,652 per year for tuition, according to The College Investor.
What is the most expensive university in America? ›| College | Tuition Cost |
|---|---|
| 1. Franklin & Marshall College | $65,652 |
| 2. Columbia University | $65,524 |
| 3. Reed College | $64,450 |
| 4. Vassar College | $63,840 |
Most expensive private high schools in US: IMG Academy makes the list.
Which university gave most billionaires? ›Counting all degrees, Harvard University comes in first place in terms of the total number of billionaire alumni. The University of Pennsylvania comes in first if only bachelor's degrees are counted, according to the most recent 2022 Forbes report.
What major has the most billionaires? ›Fittingly, the most common subject matter for higher education was economics and finance, suggesting that when you know money, you know how to make money! Billionaires such as Warren Buffett, Alice Walton, and Elon Musk have degrees in economics.
Is UT Austin richer than Harvard? ›Now, UT's crude and natural gas, not fundraising or investing prowess, has positioned the school's endowment to overtake Harvard University's as the richest in US higher education.
What college makes the most money? ›- Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...
- Harvey Mudd College. ...
- Bentley University. ...
- University of Pennsylvania. ...
- Carnegie Mellon University. ...
- Stevens Institute of Technology. ...
- Stanford University. ...
- Georgetown University.
Johns Hopkins Admission Stats
Johns Hopkins University is a prestigious private research university in Baltimore, Maryland.