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Colleges With the Largest Endowments, 2017

By  Chronicle Staff
February 25, 2018

The 809 American colleges that participated in a 2017 survey reported an average return of 12.2 percent (net of fees) for the fiscal year, compared with a –1.9 percent return reported by 805 colleges for the 2016 fiscal year. Seven private nonprofit institutions had endowments of $10 billion or more at the end of the 2017 fiscal year, as did three public institutions or systems.

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The 809 American colleges that participated in a 2017 survey reported an average return of 12.2 percent (net of fees) for the fiscal year, compared with a –1.9 percent return reported by 805 colleges for the 2016 fiscal year. Seven private nonprofit institutions had endowments of $10 billion or more at the end of the 2017 fiscal year, as did three public institutions or systems.

Private nonprofit institutions

RankInstitutionMarket valueOne-year change
1. Harvard U. $36,021,516,000 4.3%
2. Yale U. $27,176,100,000 7.0%
3. Stanford U. $24,784,943,000 10.7%
4. Princeton U. $23,812,241,000 7.5%
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology $14,967,983,000 11.4%
6. U. of Pennsylvania $12,213,202,000 14.0%
7. Northwestern U. $10,436,692,000 8.2%
8. Columbia U. $9,996,596,000 10.6%
9. U. of Notre Dame $9,352,376,000 11.7%
10. Duke U. $7,911,175,000 15.7%
11. Washington U. in St. Louis $7,860,774,000 11.4%
12. U. of Chicago $7,523,720,000 7.5%
13. Emory U. $6,905,465,000 7.9%
14. Cornell U. $6,757,750,000 13.2%
15. Rice U. $5,814,444,000 9.2%
16. U. of Southern California $5,128,459,000 11.3%
17. Dartmouth College $4,956,494,000 10.8%
18. Vanderbilt U. $4,136,465,000 9.0%
19. New York U. $3,991,638,000 14.5%
20. Johns Hopkins U. $3,844,918,000 13.7%
21. Brown U. $3,245,531,000 9.5%
22. California Institute of Technology $2,606,505,000 17.5%
23. Williams College $2,508,773,000 11.2%
24. U. of Richmond $2,373,506,000 8.4%
25. Boston College $2,317,300,000 12.3%
26. Amherst College $2,248,141,000 10.6%
27. Pomona College $2,167,019,000 9.2%
28. Carnegie Mellon U. $2,154,098,000 26.1%
29. U. of Rochester $2,121,390,000 10.1%
30. Rockefeller U. $2,049,344,000 8.6%
31. Boston U. $1,957,021,000 18.3%
32. Swarthmore College $1,955,532,000 11.9%
33. Wellesley College $1,930,752,000 9.6%
34. Grinnell College $1,871,046,000 13.5%
35. Case Western Reserve U. $1,798,790,000 8.2%
36. Smith College $1,767,466,000 8.6%
37. Tufts U. $1,738,706,000 11.2%
38. George Washington U. $1,729,147,000 10.1%
39. Georgetown U. $1,661,745,000 12.0%
40. Washington and Lee U. $1,547,135,000 5.1%
41. Texas Christian U. $1,520,622,000 0.4%
42. Southern Methodist U. $1,514,607,000 9.4%
43. Bowdoin College $1,455,909,000 8.7%
44. Liberty U. $1,290,703,000 19.2%
45. Tulane U. $1,288,374,000 12.0%
46. Lehigh U. $1,278,120,000 9.9%
47. Syracuse U. $1,258,728,000 8.8%
48. Baylor U. $1,230,958,000 7.6%
49. Wake Forest U. $1,205,323,000 5.6%
50. Trinity U. $1,194,250,000 10.1%

•••

Public institutions

RankInstitutionMarket valueOne-year change
1. U. of Texas system $26,535,095,000 9.6%
2. Texas A&M U. system and foundations $11,556,260,000 9.6%
3. U. of Michigan (all campuses) $10,936,014,000 12.2%
4. U. of California system office $9,787,627,000 17.3%
5. U. of Virginia $6,393,561,000 9.2%
6. Ohio State U. $4,253,459,000 18.9%
7. Pennsylvania State U. (all campuses) $3,990,781,000 10.8%
8. U. of Pittsburgh (all campuses) $3,945,687,000 11.9%
9. U. of Minnesota and foundations $3,493,641,000 6.5%
10. U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and foundations $3,027,227,000 4.8%
11. U. of Wisconsin Foundation $2,746,470,000 13.5%
12. Michigan State U. $2,682,869,000 n/a
13. U. of Illinois and Foundation $2,556,723,000 12.7%
14. U. of Washington $2,529,250,000 13.0%
15. Purdue U. (all campuses) $2,424,872,000 7.6%
16. Indiana U. and Foundation (all campuses) $2,229,361,000 12.2%
17. U. of California at Los Angeles Foundation $2,062,573,000 14.4%
18. Georgia Institute of Technology and related foundations $1,985,802,000 7.7%
19. Virginia Commonwealth U. $1,843,001,000 18.2%
20. U. of California Berkeley Foundation $1,794,602,000 13.2%
21. U. of Oklahoma (all campuses) $1,646,184,000 8.3%
22. U. of Nebraska system $1,616,900,000 5.1%
23. Kansas University Endowment Association $1,612,337,000 9.3%
24. U. of Florida Foundation $1,612,003,000 10.3%
25. U. of Missouri system $1,603,230,000 9.8%
26. U. of Iowa and Foundation $1,387,001,000 10.1%
27. U. of Delaware $1,364,057,000 8.1%
28. U. of Alabama system $1,351,160,000 10.7%
29. U. of California San Francisco Foundation $1,306,564,000 14.7%
30. U. of Kentucky $1,285,114,000 15.0%
31. U. of Cincinnati $1,282,743,000 10.1%
32. Texas Tech U. system $1,261,576,000 12.0%
33. Rutgers, the State U. of New Jersey
$1,220,265,000 12.6%
34. U. of Colorado Foundation $1,220,204,000 14.8%
35. U. of Tennessee $1,214,619,000 10.5%
36. U. of Georgia and related foundations $1,151,904,000 13.3%
37. U. of Utah $1,127,686,000 5.2%
38. North Carolina State U. and related foundations $1,122,899,000 12.4%
39. U. System of Maryland and Foundation $1,099,864,000 13.5%
40. U. of Arkansas at Fayetteville $996,019,000 10.8%
41. Virginia Tech Foundation $995,807,000 18.1%
42. Washington State U. $974,029,000 7.3%
43. U. of Houston system $962,297,000 29.7%
44. Oklahoma State U. Foundation $903,415,000 6.7%
45. College of William & Mary and foundations $874,081,000 8.8%
46. U. of California Irvine Foundation $869,491,000 74.5%
47. U. of Arizona and Foundation $843,529,000 11.8%
48. Iowa State U. and Foundation $838,871,000 10.3%
49. Louisiana State U. system (all campuses) $835,176,000 6.8%
50. U. of Oregon Foundation $828,459,000 9.2%

Note: Data represent changes in endowments’ market value from the end of the 2016 fiscal year, which for most colleges closed on June 30, 2016, to the end of the 2017 fiscal year, which for most colleges closed on June 30, 2017. Percentage change does not represent the rate of return on the institution’s investments but rather the net effect of withdrawals, payment of fees, contributions of donors, and investment gains or losses. Large percentage changes should be interpreted cautiously because they can result from fluctuations in the estimated valuations of real estate and other “illiquid” assets, or transfers from other institutional budget accounts. The University of Pittsburgh is included among public institutions though it is only state-related but is not state-owned. Canadian institutions are excluded. An interactive tool with endowment data from 2007 to 2017 is at www.chronicle.com/interactives/endowments. More data are at www.nacubo.org/Research/NACUBO-Commonfund_Study_of_Endowments.html. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to the list’s editor.

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Source: National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund Institute

Correction (2/27/2018, 1:23 p.m.): The original table should have listed No. 33 among public institutions as Rutgers, the State U. of New Jersey, not Rutgers U. at New Brunswick. The identification has been corrected.

A version of this article appeared in the March 2, 2018, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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