Data from the 2024 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments (NCSE) reveal that 658 U.S. colleges and universities and affiliated foundations rely on their endowments to support student financial aid, faculty and staff salaries, operating budgets, and more. The 658 institutions in this year’s study represented a total of $873.7 billion in endowment assets. Over the past decade, FY21 generated the highest return for endowments (30.6 percent). The highest FY24 return, an average of 13.0 percent, came from institutions with endowments under $50 million. Specifically, 10-year annual returns were identified as a key measurement of endowment performance, making this spending feasible. In total, participating institutions withdrew $30 billion from their endowments during the fiscal year, a 6.4 percent year-over-year increase. A majority of endowment spending (48.1 percent) funded student financial aid. Endowments operate on the principle of intergenerational equity, meaning that endowment values should be preserved in real (after inflation) terms so that students of future generations will have the same level of endowment support as generations past and present. Higher education institutions rely on their endowments thanks to sound financial management.
