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Harvard's endowment soars to $53.2 billon sealing its status as world's richest
Such endowments, very common in US higher education, are funded largely by private donations. Most of these are subject to restrictions on what the money can be used for, such as specific projects or areas of study.
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Harvard is facing scrutiny from the Department of Justice and a separate lawsuit accusing the college of discriminating against Asian-Americans in its undergraduate admissions process. (shutterstock.com/Gil C/File)
H
arvard University's endowment shot up 27 percent in a year, according to its annual financial report published Thursday, making it more than ever the world's richest university.
Such endowments, very common in US higher education, are funded largely by private donations. Most of these are subject to restrictions on what the money can be used for, such as specific projects or areas of study.
Only 5 to 5.5 percent of the endowment at Harvard is used to fund the actual running of the university. That was $2 billion dollars in the 2020-21 school year.
Already the largest in the world, Harvard's endowment rose by 27 percent to $53.2 billion as of the end of June, the end of the fiscal year.
That amount of money is equivalent to the reserves of the central banks of South Africa or the Netherlands.
Cashing in on buoyant markets, Harvard earned 33.6 percent on its investments in the year ending in June.
Investments in private and public markets helped fuel the increase which university officials called an "outstanding" year. A year ago, Harvard reported a 7.3 percent gain during the fiscal year that ended in June 2020, just months after markets tumbled amid the coronavirus outbreak.
