List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment

Many institutions of higher education in the United States maintain financial endowments—sums of money that are invested in stocks, yielding returns that fund a portion of an institution's operational expenses and help ensure it survives in perpetuity.

Harvard University has the largest endowment in the world.

U.S. colleges and universities maintain some of the largest endowments in the world, and make up the strong majority of educational institutions with endowments greater than $1 billion.

The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) maintains information on college endowments.^[1][2] In 2005, the endowment table totaled $219.37 billion. By 2015, the table totaled $394.96 billion, an increase of 80%, and in 2018, the total further increased to $479.23 billion. As of 2021^[update], the total stood at $854.11 billion, with an average across all institutions of $1.1621 billion and median of $2.0102 million.

Strong returns in fiscal year 2020-21 led the largest university endowments to soar. The four largest endowments — Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton — increased in value from $127.24 billion to $171 billion in a single year.^[3][4][5][6]

Enhancements and levies

The tabulated data below are from NACUBO. Some universities benefit from endowments that are not under their direct control but which are nonetheless dedicated to the welfare of one or several institutions. Examples include The Duke Endowment, the Robert A. Welch Foundation, and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.

In 2017, a federal endowment tax was enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 in the form of an excise tax of 1.4% on institutions that have at least 500 tuition-paying students and net assets of at least $500,000 per student. The $500,000 is not adjusted for inflation, so the threshold is effectively lowered over time.^[7][8]

The endowment tax provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been criticized as funding tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy at the expense of education.^[9][10] Critics note that the tax could threaten financial aid for low-income students, stifle social mobility, and obstruct life-saving research.^[10][11] There continue to be vigorous efforts that advocate the repeal of the tax.^[12] Repeal legislation with bipartisan cosponsorship was introduced, but not passed, by both the 115th United States Congress^[13] and 116th United States Congress.^[14]

Endowments greater than $1 billion

Private schools

 

Yale University has the second highest endowment of all private colleges and universities in the U.S.

Institution	State	Endowment (billions USD (FY2021))^[15]
Harvard University	Massachusetts	$51.90
Yale University	Connecticut	$42.28
Stanford University	California	$37.80
Princeton University	New Jersey	$37.70
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts	$27.53
University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	$20.52
University of Notre Dame	Indiana	$18.07
Northwestern University	Illinois	$14.96
Columbia University	New York	$14.35
Washington University	Missouri	$13.54
Duke University	North Carolina	$12.70
University of Chicago	Illinois	$11.6^[16]
Emory University	Georgia	$11.03
Vanderbilt University	Tennessee	$10.93
Cornell University	New York	$10^[17]
Johns Hopkins University	Maryland	$9.315
Dartmouth College	New Hampshire	$8.484
Rice University	Texas	$8.061
University of Southern California	California	$8.008
Brown University	Rhode Island	$6.520
New York University	New York	$5.574
Williams College	Massachusetts	$4.170
Carnegie Mellon University	Pennsylvania	$3.967
Boston College	Massachusetts	$3.827
California Institute of Technology	California	$3.805
Amherst College	Massachusetts	$3.775
Boston University	Massachusetts	$3.401
University of Richmond	Virginia	$3.356
Wellesley College	Massachusetts	$3.236
University of Rochester	New York	$3.193
Pomona College	California	$3.035
Rockefeller University	New York	$2.990
Grinnell College	Iowa	$2.932
Swarthmore College	Pennsylvania	$2.899
Bowdoin College	Maine	$2.719
Tufts University	Massachusetts	$2.646
Georgetown University	District of Columbia	$2.592
Smith College	Massachusetts	$2.559
George Washington University	District of Columbia	$2.411
Case Western Reserve University	Ohio	$2.354
Texas Christian University	Texas	$2.149
Liberty University	Virginia	$2.136^[18]
Southern Methodist University	Texas	$2.109
Washington and Lee University	Virginia	$2.092
Brigham Young University	Utah	$2.258^[19]^[needs update]
Tulane University	Louisiana	$1.921
Wake Forest University	North Carolina	$1.862
Baylor University	Texas	$1.830
Syracuse University	New York	$1.814
Lehigh University	Pennsylvania	$1.785
Trinity University	Texas	$1.716
Baylor College of Medicine	Texas	$1.648
Medical College of Wisconsin	Wisconsin	$1.641
Berea College	Kentucky	$1.613
Wesleyan University	Connecticut	$1.573
Santa Clara University	California	$1.538
Saint Louis University	Missouri	$1.524
Middlebury College	Vermont	$1.511
Princeton Theological Seminary	New Jersey	$1.449
Northeastern University	Massachusetts	$1.446
Hamilton College	New York	$1.399
University of Miami	Florida	$1.393
Vassar College	New York	$1.379
University of Tulsa	Oklahoma	$1.367
Davidson College	North Carolina	$1.341
Soka University of America	California	$1.3^[20]
Oberlin College	Ohio	$1.297
Rochester Institute of Technology	New York	$1.295
Brandeis University	Massachusetts	$1.286
Colgate University	New York	$1.263
Colby College	Maine	$1.258
Claremont McKenna College	California	$1.222
Berry College	Georgia	$1.213
Bryn Mawr College	Pennsylvania	$1.179
Denison University	Ohio	$1.162
Carleton College	Minnesota	$1.158
Villanova University	Pennsylvania	$1.156
Loma Linda University	California	$1.119
Pepperdine University	California	$1.107
Bucknell University	Pennsylvania	$1.106
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	New York	$1.070
Mount Holyoke College	Massachusetts	$1.068
Lafayette College	Pennsylvania	$1.064
College of the Holy Cross	Massachusetts	$1.043^[21]
University of Denver	Colorado	$1.040
Fordham University	New York	$1.003

Public schools

 

The University of Texas System has the largest system-wide endowment of any American public higher education institution.

Institution	State	Endowment (billions USD (2021))^[15]
University of Texas System	Texas	$42.91
Texas A&M University System	Texas	$18.03
University of Michigan	Michigan	$17.02
University of California (system-wide regents portions)	California	$16.27
University of Virginia	Virginia	$14.50
Ohio State University	Ohio	$6.814
University of Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	$5.647
University of Minnesota	Minnesota	$5.444
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	North Carolina	$5.167
Pennsylvania State University	Pennsylvania	$4.613
University of Washington	Washington	$4.075
University of Wisconsin-Madison	Wisconsin	$3.982
Michigan State University	Michigan	$3.926
University of California, Los Angeles	California	$3.893
State University of New York (system-wide)	New York	$3.66^[22]^[needs update]
Purdue University system	Indiana	$3.585
University of Illinois System	Illinois	$3.380
Indiana University (system-wide)	Indiana	$3.317
University of Iowa	Iowa	$3.137
Georgia Institute of Technology	Georgia	$2.972
University of California, Berkeley	California	$2.924
University of California, San Francisco	California	$2.778
Virginia Commonwealth University (and affiliated entities)	Virginia	$2.730
University of Oklahoma	Oklahoma	$2.70^[23]
University of Florida	Florida	$2.379
University of Kansas	Kansas	$2.370
University of Nebraska System	Nebraska	$2.311
University of Missouri System	Missouri	$2.207
University of Colorado	Colorado	$2.125
Rutgers University (system-wide)	New Jersey	$2.000
University of Maryland System	Maryland	$1.994
University of Delaware	Delaware	$1.958
University of Alabama System	Alabama	$1.956
North Carolina State University	North Carolina	$1.946
University of Georgia (and related foundations)	Georgia	$1.819
University of Cincinnati	Ohio	$1.814
University of Kentucky	Kentucky	$1.796
Virginia Tech	Virginia	$1.690
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville	Arkansas	$1.682
Oklahoma State University	Oklahoma	$1.563
Texas Tech University System	Texas	$1.532
University of Tennessee System	Tennessee	$1.526
Iowa State University	Iowa	$1.496
University of Houston System	Texas	$1.324
University of Utah	Utah	$1.323
Washington State University	Washington	$1.289
College of William & Mary	Virginia	$1.278
University of Arizona	Arizona	$1.266
Arizona State University	Arizona	$1.257
University of California, San Diego	California	$1.252
University of Massachusetts (system-wide)	Massachusetts	$1.204
University of Oregon	Oregon	$1.197
Louisiana State University System	Louisiana	$1.186
Oregon Health & Science University	Oregon	$1.100
Auburn University	Alabama	$1.026
University at Buffalo	New York	$1.020
Clemson University	South Carolina	$1.009

Endowments per student greater than $2 million

 

Princeton University has the largest endowment per student in the United States

Institution	Endowment per capita (2021, student population over 1000)^[15]
Princeton University	$4,475,013
Yale University	$3,528,574
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$2,483,284
Stanford University	$2,442,492
Harvard University	$2,274,649
Amherst College	$2,163,412
Williams College	$2,131,270
Pomona College	$2,076,066
Swarthmore College	$2,017,614

See also

• Lists of institutions of higher education by endowment size

References

1. "National Association of College and University Business Officers". NACUBO. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
2. Ken Redd (May 26, 2020). "Historic Endowment Study Data". National Association of College and University Business Officers.
3. Virginia L. Ma and Kevin A. Simauchi (15 October 2021). "Harvard's Endowment Soars to $53.2 Billion, Reports 33.6% Returns". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
4. "Yale endowment earns 40.2% investment return in fiscal 2021". Yale News. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
5. Benjamin Zaidel (27 October 2021). "Stanford reports 'record year' of investment returns, nets $12.1 billion in gains". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
6. "Princeton's endowment returns continue to support University mission and impact". Princeton University. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
7. "Wealthy colleges face uncertainty as they seek ways to avoid new endowment tax". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
8. "The wealthiest universities are paying big endowment tax bills, but how much are others who are on the hook paying?". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
9. "End the Endowment Tax". The Harvard Crimson. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
10. Wilson, John. "Why the Endowment Tax Is Unconstitutional". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
11. Powell, Alvin (21 December 2017). "Tax on university endowments passes". The Harvard Gazette. Harvard University. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
12. Kreighbaum, Andrew (23 April 2018). "Endowment Tax Fight Not Over Yet". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
13. "H.R.5220 - Don't Tax Higher Education Act". Congress.gov. United States Congress. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
14. "H.R.4438 - Don't Tax Higher Education Act". Congress.gov. United States Congress. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
15. "U.S. and Canadian 2021 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2021 Endowment Market Value, Change in Market Value from FY20 to FY21, and FY21 Endowment Market Values Per Full-time Equivalent Student (Excel--Updated March 2022)". National Association of College and University Business Officers. 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
16. "University of Chicago endowment ended FY21 at $11.6 billion | University of Chicago News". news.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
17. "Markets, restructuring lift endowment to new high in FY 2021". Cornell Chronicle. 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
18. "Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Information: Years Ended June 30, 2021 and 2020" (PDF). Liberty University, Inc. 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
19. "Table 333.90. Endowment funds of the 120 degree-granting postsecondary institutions with the largest endowments, by rank order: Fiscal year 2020". National Center for Education Statistics. 2021. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
20. "A Short Course in Sokanomics: Managing Finances to Support the University's Mission | Soka University of America".
21. "Holy Cross at a Glance". College of the Holy Cross. from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
22. "2020 Annual Financial Report" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
23. As of June 30, 2021. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.^{[dead link]}