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 failed in the Ways and Means Committee each time.

Endowments greater than $1 billion

Private schools

RankInstitutionStateEndowment [3]
(billions USD – FY2023)
Change
PrivateOverall1year [3] 5year [14] 10year [15]
11 Harvard University Massachusetts$49.495
23 Yale University Connecticut$40.747
34 Stanford University California$36.495
45 Princeton University New Jersey$34.059
56 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts$23.453
67 University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania$20.963
711 University of Notre Dame Indiana$16.617
812 Northwestern University Illinois$13.700
913 Columbia University New York$13.643
1014 Duke University North Carolina$13.238
1115 Washington University in St. Louis Missouri$11.467
1216 Johns Hopkins University Maryland$10.539
1317 Emory University Georgia$10.240
1418 Cornell University New York$10.036
1519 University of Chicago Illinois$9.870
1621 Vanderbilt University Tennessee$9.684
1722 Dartmouth College New Hampshire$7.930
1823 University of Southern California California$7.463
1925 Rice University Texas$7.240
2026 Brown University Rhode Island$6.201
2127 New York University New York$5.877
2234 Carnegie Mellon University Pennsylvania$3.888
2338 California Institute of Technology California$3.665
2440 Williams College Massachusetts$3.487
2541 Boston College Massachusetts$3.461
2643 Amherst College Massachusetts$3.342
2744 Georgetown University District of Columbia$3.299
2846 University of Richmond Virginia$3.150
2947 Boston University Massachusetts$3.129
3050 Wellesley College Massachusetts$2.889
3151 University of Rochester New York$2.823
3252 Pomona College California$2.778
3353 Swarthmore College Pennsylvania$2.720
3456 Texas Christian University Texas$2.579
3557 George Washington University District of Columbia$2.522
3658 Grinnell College Iowa$2.506
3759 Smith College Massachusetts$2.470
3860 Bowdoin College Maine$2.424
3961 Tufts University Massachusetts$2.405
4062 Rockefeller University New York$2.365
4166 Case Western Reserve University Ohio$2.261
4268 Tulane University Louisiana$2.108
4372 Southern Methodist University Texas$2.041
4475 Washington and Lee University Virginia$1.974
4576 Baylor University Texas$1.966
4677 Wake Forest University North Carolina$1.900
4778 Syracuse University New York$1.897
4879 University of Delaware [lower-alpha 1] Delaware$1.820
4983 Lehigh University Pennsylvania$1.756
5084 Saint Louis University Missouri$1.731
5187 Northeastern University Massachusetts$1.663
5288 Trinity University Texas$1.654
5391 Medical College of Wisconsin Wisconsin$1.639
5494 Berea College Kentucky$1.508
5596 Wesleyan University Connecticut$1.482
5697 Santa Clara University California$1.478
5798 Baylor College of Medicine Texas$1.474
5899 Middlebury College Vermont$1.469
59101 Princeton Theological Seminary New Jersey$1.415
60102 University of Miami Florida$1.366
61106 Davidson College North Carolina$1.322
62108 Loma Linda University California$1.306
63110 Hamilton College New York$1.282
64111 Rochester Institute of Technology New York$1.274
65113 Berry College Georgia$1.261
66114 University of Tulsa Oklahoma$1.260
67116 Vassar College New York$1.224
68117 Villanova University Pennsylvania$1.220
69118 Brandeis University Massachusetts$1.216
70119 Colgate University New York$1.202
71120 Oberlin College Ohio$1.199
72121 Carleton College Minnesota$1.172
73122 Bryn Mawr College Pennsylvania$1.169
74123 Pepperdine University California$1.169
75124 Claremont McKenna College California$1.123
76125 Colby College Maine$1.116
77127 Bucknell University Pennsylvania$1.088
78130 Lafayette College Pennsylvania$1.048
79132 College of the Holy Cross Massachusetts$1.044
80133 Mount Holyoke College Massachusetts$1.036
81134 University of Denver Colorado$1.023
82135 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.

RankInstitutionStateEndowment [3]
(billions USD – FY2023)
Change
PublicOverall1year [3] 5year [14] 10year [15]
12 University of Texas System Texas$44.967
28 Texas A&M University System [lower-alpha 2] Texas$19.285
39 University of Michigan Michigan$17.876
410 University of California System [lower-alpha 3] California$17.689
520 University of Virginia Virginia$9.800
624 Ohio State University Ohio$7.384
728 University of Minnesota [lower-alpha 4] Minnesota$5.501
829 University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania$5.489
930 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [lower-alpha 4] North Carolina$5.201
1031 University of Washington Washington$4.941
1132 Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania$4.444
1233 Michigan State University Michigan$4.054
1335 University of California, Los Angeles California$3.873
1436 University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin$3.838
1537 Purdue University System Indiana$3.794
1639 Indiana University System Indiana$3.558
1742 University of Illinois System [lower-alpha 4] Illinois$3.383
1845 University of Iowa [lower-alpha 4] Iowa$3.258
1948 Georgia Institute of Technology [lower-alpha 2] Georgia$2.947
2049 University of California, Berkeley California$2.915
2154 University of California, San Francisco California$2.719
2255 Virginia Commonwealth University [lower-alpha 5] Virginia$2.583
2363 University of Kansas Kansas$2.357
2464 University of Florida Florida$2.337
2565 University of Nebraska System Nebraska$2.266
2667 University of Missouri System Missouri$2.235
2769 University of Colorado System Colorado$2.096
2870 University System of Maryland Maryland$2.095
2971 University of Alabama System Alabama$2.089
3073 North Carolina State University [lower-alpha 2] North Carolina$2.028
3174 Rutgers University System New Jersey$1.988
3280 University of Georgia [lower-alpha 2] Georgia$1.811
3381 University of Kentucky Kentucky$1.808
3482 Virginia Tech Virginia$1.792
3585 Texas Tech University System Texas$1.716
3686 Oklahoma State University System Oklahoma$1.707
3789 Iowa State University Iowa$1.643
3890 University of Utah Utah$1.643
3992 University of Tennessee System Tennessee$1.600
4093 University of Arkansas at Fayetteville [lower-alpha 4] Arkansas$1.527
4195 University of Oregon Oregon$1.490
42100 Arizona State University [lower-alpha 4] Arizona$1.467
43103 University of California, San Diego California$1.361
44104 College of William & Mary [lower-alpha 4] Virginia$1.361
45105 University of Cincinnati Ohio$1.346
46107 University of Massachusetts System Massachusetts$1.314
47109 University of Arizona [lower-alpha 4] Arizona$1.288
48112 Washington State University Washington$1.267
49115 Oregon Health & Science University Oregon$1.257
50128 Auburn University [lower-alpha 4] Alabama$1.079
51129 Louisiana State University System Louisiana$1.061
52131 University of Houston System [lower-alpha 4] Texas$1.046
53134 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. [16]

RankInstitutionEnrollment [3]
(FTE – Fall 2022)
Endowment per student [3]
(USD – FY2023)
Change [3] [17]
(1year)
1 Rockefeller University 273$8,664,540
2 Princeton Theological Seminary 308$4,593,980
3 Princeton University 8,887$3,832,426
4 Yale University 14,647$2,781,928
5 Pardee RAND 130$2,236,142
6 Stanford University 17,349$2,103,579
7 Harvard University 24,348$2,032,820
8 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 11,703$2,004,054
9 Williams College 2,129$1,637,651
10 Pomona College 1,709$1,625,259
11 Swarthmore College 1,699$1,601,135
12 California Institute of Technology 2,401$1,526,531
13 Columbia Theological Seminary 178$1,508,328
14 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary 110$1,346,256
15 University of Notre Dame 12,908$1,287,304
16 Bowdoin College 1,911$1,268,411
17 Dartmouth College 6,744$1,175,879
18 Wellesley College 2,641$1,093,855
19 Berea College 1,418$1,063,762
20 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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