Endowments

Question:
How large are the endowments of colleges and universities in the United States?

Response:

At the end of fiscal year 2017, the market value of the endowment funds of colleges and universities was $598 billion, reflecting an increase of 10 percent compared with the beginning of the fiscal year, when the total was $544 billion. At the end of fiscal year 2016, the 120 institutions with the largest endowments accounted for $443 billion, or about three-fourths of the national total. The five institutions with the largest endowments in 2017 were Harvard University ($37 billion), Yale University ($27 billion), the University of Texas System ($26 billion), Stanford University ($25 billion), and Princeton University ($23 billion).

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Digest of Education Statistics, 2018 (NCES 2020-009), Chapter 3.

Endowment funds of the 20 colleges and universities with the largest endowments, by rank order: Fiscal year (FY) 2017
Institution	Rank order1	Market value of endowment (in thousands of dollars)
		Beginning of FY	End of FY
United States, all institutions		$543,509,478	$598,295,271
Harvard University (MA)	1	35,665,743	37,096,474
Yale University (CT)	2	25,413,149	27,216,639
University of Texas System Office	3	23,861,771	25,947,842
Stanford University (CA)	4	22,398,130	24,784,943
Princeton University (NJ)	5	21,703,488	23,353,233
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	6	13,181,515	14,832,483
University of Pennsylvania	7	10,715,364	12,213,207
Texas A & M University, College Station	8	9,858,672	10,808,501
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	9	9,600,640	10,777,563
Columbia University in the City of New York (NY)	10	9,041,027	9,996,596
University of California System Admin. Central Office	11	8,367,764	9,837,900
University of Notre Dame (IN)	12	8,748,266	9,684,936
Northwestern University (IL)	13	7,478,167	7,947,574
Duke University (NC)	14	6,839,780	7,911,175
Emory University (GA)	15	6,902,625	7,613,022
Washington University in St. Louis (MO)	16	6,526,726	7,214,958
University of Chicago (IL)	17	6,121,266	6,617,076
Cornell University (NY)	18	4,524,419	6,516,445
University of Virginia, Main Campus	19	5,774,744	6,308,922
Rice University (TX)	20	5,354,508	5,835,568

¹ Institutions ranked by size of endowment at end of 2017 fiscal year.
NOTE: Degree-granting institutions grant associate's or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Digest of Education Statistics, 2018 (NCES 2020-009), Table 333.90.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2020, IPEDS Data Explorer, Amount and percentage distribution of revenues and expenses of all Title IV institutions and administrative offices, by level and control of institution or administrative office, accounting standards utilized, and source of funds: United States, fiscal year 2018
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2020, The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): IPEDS is a system of surveys designed to collect data from all primary providers of postsecondary education.