Colleges With the Largest Endowments
Institution, 2015 endowment value, percent change from 2014 value
1. Harvard University, $36.4 billion, 1.6
2. Yale University, $25.6 billion, 7.0
3. The University of Texas System, $24.1 billion, -5.3
4. Princeton University, $22.7 billion, 8.2
5. Stanford University, $22.2 billion, 3.6
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, $13.5 billion, 8.4
7. The Texas A&M University System and Foundations, $10.5 billion, -5.6
8. Northwestern University, $10.2 billion, 4.2
9. University of Pennsylvania, $10.1 billion, 5.8
10. University of Michigan, $10 billion, 2.3
17. Emory University, $6.7 billion, 0.0
47. Georgia Institute of Technology and related foundations, $1.9 billion, -1.6
94. University of Georgia and related foundations, $1 billion, 3.0
Source: NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments, 2015
Colleges across the country saw their endowment investment return rates fall last year to the lowest level since 2012.
On average, colleges reported 2.4 percent return rates for their fiscal 2015 endowments. The figure is a decline from 15.5 percent returns for fiscal 2014, but higher than the 0.3 percent decline inf fiscal 2012, according to an annual survey released this week by Commonfund and the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
This is the seventh year that groups have collaborated on the national endowment study, that includes 812 colleges and universities.
Fiscal 2015 was a “subdued” financial year overall, Communfund officials said, attributing the lower returns to the challenging financial market including the drop in oil prices and China’s slowing economy. The fiscal 2015 results further demonstrate the need for
College endowment funds are designed to support an aspect of the university’s operations — such as research, scholarship or faculty salaries — built up over several years and invested.
Among the institutions surveyed, the study found that larger endowments typically had larger returns. For schools with endowments under $25 million, the one-year return rate was 2.3 percent; endowments more than $1 billion returned 4.3 percent.
Among Georgia schools, Emory University recorded the largest endowment last year at almost $6.7 billion, which ranked 17th out of the 812 institutions surveyed. Georgia Tech’s $1.9 billion endowment market value declined slightly from 2014 to 2015, and UGA’s $1 billion endowment grew by 3 percent.
The market value of Emory’s endowment held steady from 2014 to 2015.
The ongoing success of Emory’s endowment has enabled the university to distribute nearly $260 million to its academic programs and research support this fiscal year, while also ensuring for the long-term sustainability of the university’s mission, and support for students, faculty and researchers, said Mary Cahill, Emory’s vice president of investments and chief investment officer.
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