An article from Dive Brief Endowments grew 4% in FY2024 on investment returns, donations

Colleges responding to the latest NACUBO-Commonfund study reported a collective $837.7 billion in endowment value as Republicans eye higher taxes.

Published Feb. 12, 2025 Ben Unglesbee Senior Reporter

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Harvard University's main campus. With a value of $54 billion, the institution's endowment is once again the largest in the country, according to the latest data from Commonfund and the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Darren McCollester/Newsmakers via Getty Images Dive Brief:

• The value of college endowments collectively grew 4% in fiscal 2024 thanks to a combination of strong investment returns and a rise in donations, according to the latest data from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and asset management firm Commonfund.
• The total value of the endowments of the 658 institutions that participated in the study reached $873.7 billion for the year, with a median endowment value of $243 million. Of the survey respondents, 144 had endowments of $1 billion or more, comprising roughly 86% of the total value reported.
• Gifts to endowments rose to $15.2 billion from $12.7 billion last year, according to the study. Draws on funds rose as well, by 6.4% year over year to $30.1 billion in spending at institutions. 

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Investment returns remained strong through 2024, supporting institutions’ spending from their endowments. Ten-year average annual returns stood at 6.8% for fiscal 2024, down slightly from last year but still robust enough to make spending with endowment money “possible and prudent,” NACUBO and Commonfund said in a press release. The average one-year return hit 11.2%, a 3.5 percentage point increase over 2023.

On average, endowments funded 14% of institutions’ operating budget, up from 10.9% in fiscal 2023, according to the NACUBO-Commonfund study. 

Student aid represented the largest share by far of endowment spending, at 48.1%, followed by academic programs and research at 17.7%. 

Colleges spend the largest share of endowment funds on student financial aid Endowment spending distribution by function in fiscal 2024 !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r