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Schools
Super-rich universities widen money gap
Associated Press
Published January 24, 2008
New figures on university endowments confirm it's not just the "haves" and "have nots" in academe these days. Beyond the great majority of colleges, there's a growing group of the newly rich schools, and, at the top of the heap, a tiny cadre of ultra-wealthy institutions. The latest endowment figures from NACUBO, a college business officers' group, highlight the growing prosperity and the stratification among elite universities. There are now 76 colleges and universities with endowments over $1-billion - including 16 new members of that club like Georgetown and the universities of Oklahoma and Missouri. But five at the top each have nearly $6-billion more than any school outside that group: Harvard ($34.6-billion), Yale ($22.5-billion), Stanford ($17.2-billion), Princeton ($15.8-billion) and the University of Texas system ($15.6-billion). The survey marks the end of the recent fiscal year, which at most schools ended June 30, so the numbers don't reflect the downturn in the stock market. Harvard's endowment expanded by an amount last year that's more than Ivy League rival Cornell has altogether. Princeton now has more than $2-million in the bank for every student. Stanford raised nearly $1-billion during its last reported fiscal year alone. The figures come at a time when the advantages of that small group of super-rich schools have been a contentious topic. There's been growing criticism from the public and some in Congress that the wealthiest schools should be dipping deep into their savings to hold down prices. But when Harvard and Yale recently announced they would do so by boosting aid for families earning well into six figures, they were sharply criticized. Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust added to the tension in an exchange with Big Ten provosts over whether ambitious science research should be left to the most elite universities. Some objected to her suggestion that it would be better for some institutions to focus on social sciences and humanities. There's also rising resentment in higher education over faculty raiding, with wealthier colleges offering salaries that poorer schools can't possibly match. Harvard now pays full professors on average about $177,000, compared with about $106,000 at the average public research university. The NACUBO survey reports colleges earned on average 17.2 percent on their investments last year, with schools with $1-billion or more returning 21.3 percent, compared with 14.1 percent for schools under $25-million. Overall, institutions spent on average 4.6 percent of their endowments to support their operations, about the same as last year. The price of education The top 10 endowments Harvard: $34.6-billion Yale: $22.5-billion Stanford: $17.2-billion Princeton: $15.8-billion U. of Texas system: $15.6-billion
MIT: $10-billion Columbia:$7.1-billion U. of Michigan: $7.1-billion U. of Pennsylvania:: $6.6-billion Texas A&M: $6.6-billion Associated Press
[Last modified January 24, 2008, 01:34:23]
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