What is the current size of Harvard's endowment and why is it so high?
I've been looking into the financial side of universities since I'm applying this fall, and I keep seeing people mention Harvard's endowment as being massive. I tried searching online but there are a bunch of different numbers. How much money does Harvard actually have in its endowment fund right now?
Also, how does a school get an endowment that big in the first place? Is it mostly alumni donations or investments, or something else? Does all that money go to students, or is most of it tied up for other things? Just curious because it seems unreal that a college can have that much money. Would love to hear from anyone who knows more about how this works or maybe from current Harvard students.
Also, how does a school get an endowment that big in the first place? Is it mostly alumni donations or investments, or something else? Does all that money go to students, or is most of it tied up for other things? Just curious because it seems unreal that a college can have that much money. Would love to hear from anyone who knows more about how this works or maybe from current Harvard students.
4 weeks ago
•
30 views
Luis Nario-Malberg
• 4 weeks ago
Advisor
Harvard's endowment is widely recognized as the largest of any academic institution in the world. As of the end of the 2023 fiscal year, Harvard’s endowment stood at around $50.7 billion. There may be slight differences depending on the sources or whether recent performance and reporting updates are included, but the number is generally in the low $50 billion range.
The size of Harvard’s endowment comes from a combination of factors. Alumni and donor gifts have laid the foundation over hundreds of years—the endowment dates back to the 1600s. Harvard also has a sophisticated investment team that manages these funds. The endowment is invested in stocks, bonds, real estate, private equity, and more. This diverse investment approach lets the endowment grow substantially over time even when markets fluctuate.
It's important to know that not all of that $50 billion is just sitting in a bank account. Most of it is restricted by donors for specific uses, like supporting a particular academic department, funding scholarships for students from certain backgrounds, or maintaining libraries and museums. For example, one donor might specify their gift only be used for math research, while another might direct their money toward financial aid. Only the investment returns from these endowed funds are usually spent each year—Harvard typically spends about 5% of the endowment’s value annually.
A good portion of this spending does go toward student financial aid. For instance, Harvard boasts some of the most generous financial aid packages among U.S. colleges, partly due to its vast endowment. The rest funds everything from repairs on historic buildings, creation of faculty positions, to niche research initiatives.
As an example, if you receive a Harvard financial aid offer that is unusually generous, chances are it’s subsidized by the endowment income set aside for exactly that purpose. Without such a large endowment, Harvard wouldn’t be able to maintain these programs on the same scale. So, while the headline number is massive, the money is deeply integrated into everything Harvard does—from supporting students to expanding the frontiers of research.
The size of Harvard’s endowment comes from a combination of factors. Alumni and donor gifts have laid the foundation over hundreds of years—the endowment dates back to the 1600s. Harvard also has a sophisticated investment team that manages these funds. The endowment is invested in stocks, bonds, real estate, private equity, and more. This diverse investment approach lets the endowment grow substantially over time even when markets fluctuate.
It's important to know that not all of that $50 billion is just sitting in a bank account. Most of it is restricted by donors for specific uses, like supporting a particular academic department, funding scholarships for students from certain backgrounds, or maintaining libraries and museums. For example, one donor might specify their gift only be used for math research, while another might direct their money toward financial aid. Only the investment returns from these endowed funds are usually spent each year—Harvard typically spends about 5% of the endowment’s value annually.
A good portion of this spending does go toward student financial aid. For instance, Harvard boasts some of the most generous financial aid packages among U.S. colleges, partly due to its vast endowment. The rest funds everything from repairs on historic buildings, creation of faculty positions, to niche research initiatives.
As an example, if you receive a Harvard financial aid offer that is unusually generous, chances are it’s subsidized by the endowment income set aside for exactly that purpose. Without such a large endowment, Harvard wouldn’t be able to maintain these programs on the same scale. So, while the headline number is massive, the money is deeply integrated into everything Harvard does—from supporting students to expanding the frontiers of research.
Luis Nario-Malberg
Mooresville, North Carolina
Harvard College, Class of 2018, A.B. in Philosophy
Experience
5 years