ENDOWING STUDENTS

ASSETS

THE ENDOWMENT FUNDS of North American colleges and universities climbed considerably last year. In its annual report on endowments, the National Association of College and University Business Officers found that assets climbed an average of 15.1 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004. Almost 750 colleges and universities reported a total of $267 billion in endowment assets. Still, the average amount of growth over the past five years was a measly 3.8 percent; only slightly better than the rate of inflation during that period: 2.7 percent.

Schools with total endowment assets of more than $1 billion averaged gains of 17.2 percent. But second-tier schools with funds totaling between $500 million and $1 billion scored gains of 17.9 percent. That's not too far behind the S&P 500 index, which rose 19.1 percent in the same period. Schools with more than a billion in assets were more likely to take risks, placing on average 20 percent of their cash in hedge funds and 3.5 percent into venture capital investments. Second-tier schools' hedge-fund and venture capital investments averaged only 14.4 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

Harvard University leads the pack with total endowment assets of $22.1 billion, up 17.5 percent last year. One of the biggest gainers was the University of Virginia, which saw its endowment fund swell an amazing 55 percent to $2.8 billion.-TG

Copyright American Society for Engineering Education Summer 2005
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