List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment

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.

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 ^[update] , 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.

Institution	State	Endowment [3] (billions USD - FY2023)	Change [3] (YoY)
Harvard University	Massachusetts	$49.495	+0.1%
Yale University	Connecticut	$40.747	−1.5%
Stanford University	California	$36.495	+0.4%
Princeton University	New Jersey	$34.059	−4.8%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Massachusetts	$23.453	−5.2%
University of Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania	$20.963	+1.2%
University of Notre Dame	Indiana	$16.617	−0.7%
Northwestern University	Illinois	$13.700	−3.0%
Columbia University	New York	$13.643	+2.7%
Duke University	North Carolina	$13.238	+9.3%
Washington University in St. Louis	Missouri	$11.467	−6.4%
Johns Hopkins University	Maryland	$10.539	+27.8%
Emory University	Georgia	$10.240	+2.4%
Cornell University	New York	$10.036	+2.0%
University of Chicago	Illinois	$9.870	−0.5%
Vanderbilt University	Tennessee	$9.684	−5.1%
Dartmouth College	New Hampshire	$7.930	−1.7%
University of Southern California	California	$7.463	+2.0%
Rice University	Texas	$7.240	−0.7%
Brown University	Rhode Island	$6.201	+1.0%
New York University	New York	$5.877	+14.2%
Carnegie Mellon University	Pennsylvania	$3.888	+0.8%
California Institute of Technology	California	$3.665	+0.8%
Williams College	Massachusetts	$3.487	−1.4%
Boston College	Massachusetts	$3.461	+3.7%
Amherst College	Massachusetts	$3.342	+0.6%
Georgetown University	District of Columbia	$3.299	+2.8%
University of Richmond	Virginia	$3.150	−0.1%
Boston University	Massachusetts	$3.129	+5.0%
Wellesley College	Massachusetts	$2.889	+1.5%
University of Rochester	New York	$2.823	+3.0%
Pomona College	California	$2.778	+1.0%
Swarthmore College	Pennsylvania	$2.720	−0.2%
Texas Christian University	Texas	$2.579	+7.4%
George Washington University	District of Columbia	$2.522	+7.8%
Grinnell College	Iowa	$2.506	+0.9%
Smith College	Massachusetts	$2.470	+0.1%
Bowdoin College	Maine	$2.424	−2.0%
Tufts University	Massachusetts	$2.405	+2.3%
Rockefeller University	New York	$2.365	−9.3%
Case Western Reserve University	Ohio	$2.261	+3.3%
Tulane University	Louisiana	$2.108	+2.7%
Southern Methodist University	Texas	$2.041	+4.2%
Washington and Lee University	Virginia	$1.974	−1.2%
Baylor University	Texas	$1.966	−0.2%
Wake Forest University	North Carolina	$1.900	+4.4%
Syracuse University	New York	$1.897	+5.8%
University of Delaware [lower-alpha 1]	Delaware	$1.820	+2.2%
Lehigh University	Pennsylvania	$1.756	+4.5%
Saint Louis University	Missouri	$1.731	+28.8%
Northeastern University	Massachusetts	$1.663	+24.7%
Trinity University	Texas	$1.654	−3.0%
Medical College of Wisconsin	Wisconsin	$1.639	+8.4%
Berea College	Kentucky	$1.508	+4.9%
Wesleyan University	Connecticut	$1.482	−0.2%
Santa Clara University	California	$1.478	+0.5%
Baylor College of Medicine	Texas	$1.474	−1.3%
Middlebury College	Vermont	$1.469	+0.1%
Princeton Theological Seminary	New Jersey	$1.415	+0.8%
University of Miami	Florida	$1.366	+1.6%
Davidson College	North Carolina	$1.322	+0.5%
Loma Linda University	California	$1.306	+6.9%
Hamilton College	New York	$1.282	+0.5%
Rochester Institute of Technology	New York	$1.274	+2.0%
Berry College	Georgia	$1.261	+2.0%
University of Tulsa	Oklahoma	$1.260	−0.8%
Vassar College	New York	$1.224	+2.3%
Villanova University	Pennsylvania	$1.220	+9.6%
Brandeis University	Massachusetts	$1.216	+0.9%
Colgate University	New York	$1.202	+0.4%
Oberlin College	Ohio	$1.199	+1.3%
Carleton College	Minnesota	$1.172	+7.2%
Bryn Mawr College	Pennsylvania	$1.169	+2.1%
Pepperdine University	California	$1.169	−3.0%
Claremont McKenna College	California	$1.123	−1.7%
Colby College	Maine	$1.116	−0.6%
Bucknell University	Pennsylvania	$1.088	+1.7%
Lafayette College	Pennsylvania	$1.048	+4.7%
College of the Holy Cross	Massachusetts	$1.044	+5.1%
Mount Holyoke College	Massachusetts	$1.036	+3.4%
University of Denver	Colorado	$1.023	+3.3%
Denison University	Ohio	$1.002	−6.2%

Public schools

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.

Institution	State	Endowment [3] (billions USD - FY2023)	Change [3] (YoY)
University of Texas System	Texas	$44.967	+5.4%
Texas A&M University System [lower-alpha 2]	Texas	$19.285	+5.7%
University of Michigan	Michigan	$17.876	+3.0%
University of California System [lower-alpha 3]	California	$17.689	+14.7%
University of Virginia	Virginia	$9.800	−0.6%
Ohio State University	Ohio	$7.384	+6.1%
University of Minnesota [lower-alpha 4]	Minnesota	$5.501	+2.5%
University of Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	$5.489	−0.7%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [lower-alpha 4]	North Carolina	$5.201	−2.2%
University of Washington	Washington	$4.941	+5.6%
Pennsylvania State University	Pennsylvania	$4.444	+3.8%
Michigan State University	Michigan	$4.054	+4.5%
University of California, Los Angeles	California	$3.873	+8.8%
University of Wisconsin-Madison	Wisconsin	$3.838	+9.8%
Purdue University System	Indiana	$3.794	+3.2%
Indiana University System	Indiana	$3.558	+1.2%
University of Illinois System [lower-alpha 4]	Illinois	$3.383	+8.7%
University of Iowa [lower-alpha 4]	Iowa	$3.258	+6.7%
Georgia Institute of Technology [lower-alpha 2]	Georgia	$2.947	+0.7%
University of California, Berkeley	California	$2.915	+10.1%
University of California, San Francisco	California	$2.719	+3.8%
Virginia Commonwealth University [lower-alpha 5]	Virginia	$2.583	+7.2%
University of Kansas	Kansas	$2.357	+3.4%
University of Florida	Florida	$2.337	+2.7%
University of Nebraska System	Nebraska	$2.266	+10.1%
University of Missouri System	Missouri	$2.235	+4.2%
University of Colorado System	Colorado	$2.096	+6.1%
University of Maryland System	Maryland	$2.095	+6.6%
University of Alabama System	Alabama	$2.089	+11.3%
North Carolina State University [lower-alpha 2]	North Carolina	$2.028	+0.5%
Rutgers University System	New Jersey	$1.988	+6.7%
University of Georgia [lower-alpha 2]	Georgia	$1.811	+7.5%
University of Kentucky	Kentucky	$1.808	+7.3%
Virginia Tech	Virginia	$1.792	+13.0%
Texas Tech University System	Texas	$1.716	+0.2%
Oklahoma State University System	Oklahoma	$1.707	+10.6%
Iowa State University	Iowa	$1.643	+7.8%
University of Utah	Utah	$1.643	+11.8%
University of Tennessee System	Tennessee	$1.600	+6.5%
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville [lower-alpha 4]	Arkansas	$1.527	+4.2%
University of Oregon	Oregon	$1.490	+6.0%
Arizona State University [lower-alpha 4]	Arizona	$1.467	+5.8%
University of California, San Diego	California	$1.361	+15.0%
College of William & Mary [lower-alpha 4]	Virginia	$1.361	+4.5%
University of Cincinnati	Ohio	$1.346	+6.7%
University of Massachusetts System	Massachusetts	$1.314	+17.1%
University of Arizona [lower-alpha 4]	Arizona	$1.288	+7.0%
Washington State University	Washington	$1.267	+5.5%
Oregon Health & Science University	Oregon	$1.257	+4.8%
Auburn University [lower-alpha 4]	Alabama	$1.079	+8.4%
Louisiana State University System	Louisiana	$1.061	+5.9%
University of Houston System [lower-alpha 4]	Texas	$1.046	+4.1%
Clemson University	South Carolina	$1.027	+3.3%

Endowments per student greater than $1 million

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]

Institution	Enrollment [3] (FTE - Fall 2022)	Endowment per student [3] (USD - FY2023)	Change [3] [15] (YoY)
Rockefeller University	273	$8,664,540	−75.7%
Princeton Theological Seminary	308	$4,593,980	+6.6%
Princeton University	8,887	$3,832,426	−5.8%
Yale University	14,647	$2,781,928	−3.0%
Pardee RAND	130	$2,236,142	—
Stanford University	17,349	$2,103,579	−1.7%
Harvard University	24,348	$2,032,820	+1.0%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	11,703	$2,004,054	−4.1%
Williams College	2,129	$1,637,651	+1.8%
Pomona College	1,709	$1,625,259	+4.0%
Swarthmore College	1,699	$1,601,135	−3.0%
California Institute of Technology	2,401	$1,526,531	+0.7%
Columbia Theological Seminary	178	$1,508,328	−3.4%
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary	110	$1,346,256	+7.9%
University of Notre Dame	12,908	$1,287,304	−0.4%
Bowdoin College	1,911	$1,268,411	−0.1%
Dartmouth College	6,744	$1,175,879	−1.4%
Wellesley College	2,641	$1,093,855	−8.6%
Berea College	1,418	$1,063,762	+7.2%
Principia College	841	$1,034,472	−16.9%

See also

• Lists of institutions of higher education by endowment size

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. Endowment value includes related foundation(s).
3. System-wide endowment pool managed by the Regents of the University of California.
4. Endowment value includes foundation(s).
5. Endowment value includes affiliated entities.

References

1. "Historic Endowment Study Data". National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). February 17, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
2. "Number of U.S. Institutional Respondents to the 2023 NTSE, and Respondents' Total Endowment Market Values, by Endowment Size and Institution Type" (PDF). National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
3. "U.S. and Canadian 2023 NCSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2023 Endowment Market Value, Change in Market Value from FY22 to FY23, and FY23 Endowment Market Values Per Full-time Equivalent Student" (XLS). National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). February 15, 2024. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
4. Seltzer, Rick (January 1, 2018). "Wealthy colleges face uncertainty as they seek ways to avoid new endowment tax". Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved January 10, 2019.
5. Seltzer, Rick (February 17, 2020). "The wealthiest universities are paying big endowment tax bills, but how much are others who are on the hook paying?". Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved February 21, 2020.
6. The Crimson Editorial Board, ed. (February 20, 2018). "End the Endowment Tax". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
7. Wilson, John (January 15, 2018). "Why the Endowment Tax Is Unconstitutional". Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
8. Powell, Alvin (December 21, 2017). "Tax on university endowments passes". The Harvard Gazette . Harvard University . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
9. Kreighbaum, Andrew (April 23, 2018). "Endowment Tax Fight Not Over Yet". Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved March 29, 2020.
10. Fang, Lee (July 25, 2022). "Ivy League Universities Push for Special Tax Cut". The Intercept . Retrieved July 5, 2023.
11. "H.R.5220 - Don't Tax Higher Education Act". Congress.gov. United States Congress . Retrieved 21 June 2020.
12. "H.R.4438 - Don't Tax Higher Education Act". Congress.gov. United States Congress . Retrieved 21 June 2020.
13. "H.R.4438 - Don't Tax Higher Education Act". Congress.gov. United States Congress . Retrieved 5 July 2023.
14. "Tuition costs of colleges and universities". National Center for Education Statistics . United States Department of Education. August 4, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
15. "U.S. and Canadian 2022 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2022 Endowment Market Value, Change in Market Value from FY21 to FY22, and FY22 Endowment Market Values Per Full-time Equivalent Student" (XLS). National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). April 21, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.