List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment

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Harvard University, with a $49.495 billion endowment as of FY2023
, is the wealthiest university in the world. Widener Library.jpg
Harvard University, with a $49.495 billion endowment as of FY2023, is the wealthiest university in the world.

Many colleges and universities in the United States maintain a financial endowment consisting of assets that are invested in financial securities, real estate, and other instruments. The investment yields a return that funds a portion of an institution's operational expenses while the principal exists in perpetuity. U.S. colleges and universities maintain some of the largest endowments in the world and make up the vast majority of higher education institutions with endowments greater than $1 billion.

Contents

The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) maintains information on endowments at U.S. higher education institutions by fiscal year (FY). [1] As of FY2023, the total endowment market value of U.S. institutions stood at $839.090 billion, with an average across all institutions of $1.215 billion and a median of $215.682 million. [2] [3]

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 of these foundations 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. [4] [5]

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. Critics note that the tax could threaten financial aid for low-income students, stifle social mobility, and obstruct life-saving research. [6] [7] [8] Lobbyists representing wealthy private universities continue to advocate for its repeal. [9] [10] The Don't Tax Higher Education Act, which would repeal the endowment tax, was introduced in the 115th United States Congress, [11] 116th United States Congress, [12] and 117th United States Congress [13] but died in the Ways and Means Committee each time.

Endowments greater than $1 billion

Private schools

Yale University has the second-largest endowment of all private colleges and universities in the United States. Yale Law School in the Sterling Law Building.jpg
Yale University has the second-largest endowment of all private colleges and universities in the United States.
InstitutionStateEndowment [3]
(billions USD – FY2023)
Harvard University Massachusetts$49.495
Yale University Connecticut$40.747
Stanford University California$36.495
Princeton University New Jersey$34.059
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts$23.453
University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania$20.963
University of Notre Dame Indiana$16.617
Northwestern University Illinois$13.700
Columbia University New York$13.643
Duke University North Carolina$13.238
Washington University in St. Louis Missouri$11.467
Johns Hopkins University Maryland$10.539
Emory University Georgia$10.240
Cornell University New York$10.036
University of Chicago Illinois$9.870
Vanderbilt University Tennessee$9.684
Dartmouth College New Hampshire$7.930
University of Southern California California$7.463
Rice University Texas$7.240
Brown University Rhode Island$6.201
New York University New York$5.877
Carnegie Mellon University Pennsylvania$3.888
California Institute of Technology California$3.665
Williams College Massachusetts$3.487
Boston College Massachusetts$3.461
Amherst College Massachusetts$3.342
Georgetown University District of Columbia$3.299
University of Richmond Virginia$3.150
Boston University Massachusetts$3.129
Wellesley College Massachusetts$2.889
University of Rochester New York$2.823
Pomona College California$2.778
Swarthmore College Pennsylvania$2.720
Texas Christian University Texas$2.579
George Washington University District of Columbia$2.522
Grinnell College Iowa$2.506
Smith College Massachusetts$2.470
Bowdoin College Maine$2.424
Tufts University Massachusetts$2.405
Rockefeller University New York$2.365
Case Western Reserve University Ohio$2.261
Tulane University Louisiana$2.108
Southern Methodist University Texas$2.041
Washington and Lee University Virginia$1.974
Baylor University Texas$1.966
Wake Forest University North Carolina$1.900
Syracuse University New York$1.897
University of Delaware [lower-alpha 1] Delaware$1.820
Lehigh University Pennsylvania$1.756
Saint Louis University Missouri$1.731
Northeastern University Massachusetts$1.663
Trinity University Texas$1.654
Medical College of Wisconsin Wisconsin$1.639
Berea College Kentucky$1.508
Wesleyan University Connecticut$1.482
Santa Clara University California$1.478
Baylor College of Medicine Texas$1.474
Middlebury College Vermont$1.469
Princeton Theological Seminary New Jersey$1.415
University of Miami Florida$1.366
Davidson College North Carolina$1.322
Loma Linda University California$1.306
Hamilton College New York$1.282
Rochester Institute of Technology New York$1.274
Berry College Georgia$1.261
University of Tulsa Oklahoma$1.260
Vassar College New York$1.224
Villanova University Pennsylvania$1.220
Brandeis University Massachusetts$1.216
Colgate University New York$1.202
Oberlin College Ohio$1.199
Carleton College Minnesota$1.172
Bryn Mawr College Pennsylvania$1.169
Pepperdine University California$1.169
Claremont McKenna College California$1.123
Colby College Maine$1.116
Bucknell University Pennsylvania$1.088
Lafayette College Pennsylvania$1.048
College of the Holy Cross Massachusetts$1.044
Mount Holyoke College Massachusetts$1.036
University of Denver Colorado$1.023
Denison University Ohio$1.002

Public schools

The University of Texas System has the largest system-wide endowment of any American public higher education institution. University of texas at austin main building 2014.jpg
The University of Texas System has the largest system-wide endowment of any American public higher education institution.

For public universities, larger endowments are often associated with flagship state universities, especially those associated with a medical school. Eighteen states do not have institutions included in this list: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Many of these states have small populations. The New England states, however, are known for well-endowed private institutions. New York is one of the few populous states without a public university with a large endowment.

InstitutionStateEndowment [3]
(billions USD – FY2023)
University of Texas System Texas$44.967
Texas A&M University System [lower-alpha 2] Texas$19.285
University of Michigan Michigan$17.876
University of California System [lower-alpha 3] California$17.689
University of Virginia Virginia$9.800
Ohio State University Ohio$7.384
University of Minnesota [lower-alpha 4] Minnesota$5.501
University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania$5.489
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [lower-alpha 4] North Carolina$5.201
University of Washington Washington$4.941
Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania$4.444
Michigan State University Michigan$4.054
University of California, Los Angeles California$3.873
University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin$3.838
Purdue University System Indiana$3.794
Indiana University System Indiana$3.558
University of Illinois System [lower-alpha 4] Illinois$3.383
University of Iowa [lower-alpha 4] Iowa$3.258
Georgia Institute of Technology [lower-alpha 2] Georgia$2.947
University of California, Berkeley California$2.915
University of California, San Francisco California$2.719
Virginia Commonwealth University [lower-alpha 5] Virginia$2.583
University of Kansas Kansas$2.357
University of Florida Florida$2.337
University of Nebraska System Nebraska$2.266
University of Missouri System Missouri$2.235
University of Colorado System Colorado$2.096
University System of Maryland Maryland$2.095
University of Alabama System Alabama$2.089
North Carolina State University [lower-alpha 2] North Carolina$2.028
Rutgers University System New Jersey$1.988
University of Georgia [lower-alpha 2] Georgia$1.811
University of Kentucky Kentucky$1.808
Virginia Tech Virginia$1.792
Texas Tech University System Texas$1.716
Oklahoma State University System Oklahoma$1.707
Iowa State University Iowa$1.643
University of Utah Utah$1.643
University of Tennessee System Tennessee$1.600
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville [lower-alpha 4] Arkansas$1.527
University of Oregon Oregon$1.490
Arizona State University [lower-alpha 4] Arizona$1.467
University of California, San Diego California$1.361
College of William & Mary [lower-alpha 4] Virginia$1.361
University of Cincinnati Ohio$1.346
University of Massachusetts System Massachusetts$1.314
University of Arizona [lower-alpha 4] Arizona$1.288
Washington State University Washington$1.267
Oregon Health & Science University Oregon$1.257
Auburn University [lower-alpha 4] Alabama$1.079
Louisiana State University System Louisiana$1.061
University of Houston System [lower-alpha 4] Texas$1.046
Clemson University South Carolina$1.027

Endowments per student greater than $1 million

Rockefeller University has the largest endowment per student in the United States. Rockefeller University Campus aerial 2.jpg
Rockefeller University has the largest endowment per student in the United States.

Counterbalancing the effect of the large endowments per student for private institutions, average tuition and fees at private four-year institutions were approximately two to four times the average tuition and fees of four-year public institutions in academic year 2021–22. [14]

InstitutionEnrollment [3]
(FTE – Fall 2022)
Endowment per student [3]
(USD – FY2023)
Rockefeller University 273$8,664,540
Princeton Theological Seminary 308$4,593,980
Princeton University 8,887$3,832,426
Yale University 14,647$2,781,928
Pardee RAND 130$2,236,142
Stanford University 17,349$2,103,579
Harvard University 24,348$2,032,820
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 11,703$2,004,054
Williams College 2,129$1,637,651
Pomona College 1,709$1,625,259
Swarthmore College 1,699$1,601,135
California Institute of Technology 2,401$1,526,531
Columbia Theological Seminary 178$1,508,328
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 110$1,346,256
University of Notre Dame 12,908$1,287,304
Bowdoin College 1,911$1,268,411
Dartmouth College 6,744$1,175,879
Wellesley College 2,641$1,093,855
Berea College 1,418$1,063,762
Principia College 841$1,034,472

See also

Notes

  1. NACUBO classifies the University of Delaware as a private institution. It is chartered as a state-assisted, privately governed university. [lower-alpha 1]
  2. 1 2 3 4 Endowment value includes related foundation(s).
  3. System-wide endowment pool managed by the Regents of the University of California.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Endowment value includes foundation(s).
  5. Endowment value includes affiliated entities.

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References

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