Endowments

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

Response:

At the end of fiscal year 2018, the market value of the endowment funds of colleges and universities was $648 billion, reflecting an increase of 9 percent since the beginning of the fiscal year, when the total was $597 billion. At the end of fiscal year 2018, the 120 institutions with the largest endowments accounted for $482 billion, or about three-fourths of the national total. The five institutions with the largest endowments at the end of fiscal year 2018 were Harvard University ($39 billion), the University of Texas System ($31 billion), Yale University ($29 billion), Stanford University ($26 billion), and Princeton University ($25 billion).

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), Chapter 3.

Endowment funds of the 20 degree-granting postsecondary institutions with the largest endowments, by rank order: Fiscal year (FY) 2018
Institution	Rank order1	Market value of endowment (in thousands of dollars)
		Beginning of FY	End of FY
United States, all institutions	†	$597,008,695	$648,043,073
Harvard University (MA)	1	37,096,474	39,233,736
University of Texas System Office	2	25,947,842	30,597,370
Yale University (CT)	3	27,216,639	29,444,936
Stanford University (CA)	4	24,784,943	26,464,912
Princeton University (NJ)	5	23,353,233	25,438,281
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	6	14,832,483	16,400,027
University of Pennsylvania	7	12,213,207	13,777,441
Texas A & M University, College Station	8	10,812,432	12,688,651
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	9	10,777,563	11,733,013
University of Notre Dame (IN)	10	9,684,936	11,065,058
Columbia University in the City of New York (NY)	11	9,996,596	10,869,245
University of California System Admin. Central Office	12	9,837,900	10,828,968
Duke University (NC)	13	7,911,175	8,524,846
Northwestern University (IL)	14	7,947,574	8,386,918
Emory University (GA)	15	7,613,022	7,985,467
Washington University in St. Louis (MO)	16	7,214,958	7,687,392
University of Chicago (IL)	17	6,617,076	7,009,012
Cornell University (NY)	18	6,516,445	6,871,481
University of Virginia, Main Campus	19	6,308,922	6,856,258
Rice University (TX)	20	5,835,568	6,228,857

† Not applicable.
¹ Institutions ranked by size of endowment at end of 2018 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. (2021). Digest of Education Statistics, 2019 (NCES 2021-009), Table 333.90.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2021, IPEDS Data Explorer, Amount and % 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 and type of expense: United States, fiscal year 2019
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2021, The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS): IPEDS is a system of surveys designed to collect data from all primary providers of postsecondary education.