About U.S. Higher Education
By the numbers
Costs: Up, Up & Away
Finances: the rich get richer
Success: getting our money's worth
Management & Governance
Finances: The Rich Get Richer
- On June 30, 2005, the combined market value of the 120 largest college and university endowments was $235 billion, up from $208.7 billion in 2004. Harvard led all other schools, with more than $25 billion, followed by Yale, Stanford, Princeton and the University of Texas system. Harvard’s endowment increased to $28.9 billion in fiscal year 2006; Yale’s increased to $18 billion, Stanford’s to more than $14 billion, with the University of Texas system and Princeton each topping $13 billion.
Source: Digest of Education Statistics;
National Association of College and University Business Officers
- The market value of the endowments of 921 institutions that participated in a survey conducted by the Council for Aid to Education for two consecutive years increased in 2006 by 15.2 percent.
Source: Council for Aid to Education
- A total of 112 presidents of traditional four-year public and private colleges, universities and university systems had total compensation packages exceeding $500,000 in 2005.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
- The average salary of all college chief executives at two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities was $207,999 in 2006-2007.
Source: 2007-2008 Almanac of Higher Education, Chronicle of Higher Education
- The average salary of all faculty at two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities was $62,400 in 2005-2006. With fringe benefits included, the total increases to $79,100.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
- Total revenues for public degree-granting institutions in 2003-2004 were approximately $222 billion. Total revenues at private degree-granting institutions in 2003-2004 were $134 billion. Sources of revenue include state and federal government appropriations, grants and contracts, tuition and fees, gifts, sales and services of auxiliary enterprises.
Source: Digest of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
- Colleges and universities received $52 billion from federal government sources during 2003-2004. The five universities receiving the most federal funds were California Institute of Technology ($1.8 billion), Johns Hopkins University ($1.4 billion), MIT ($915 million), Columbia University ($842 million) and the University of Chicago ($830 million).
Source: Digest of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
- Charitable contributions to colleges and universities increased by 9.4 percent in 2006, exceeding $28 billion. Alumni giving accounted for 30 percent of the total,
foundation support represented 25.4 percent of the total, and corporate giving accounted for16.4 percent.
Source: Council for Aid to Education
- In 1998, 14.7 percent of all contributions to NCAA Division I-A colleges and universities were for athletics programs. By 2003, such donations had reached 26 percent. While contributions to these major college and university athletics programs rose dramatically during this time, overall giving to the schools remained relatively flat.
Sources: Chronicle of Higher Education; Journal of Sport Management, April 2007
- The largest gifts to higher education in recent years included:
California Institute of Technology: from Gordon and Betty Moore and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, $600 million over 10 years; cash
and stock; 2001
Columbia University: from John W. Kluge, $400 million bequest; 2007
Stanford University: from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, $400 million cash; 2001
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: from an anonymous donor, $360 million; 2001
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: from Patrick J. and Lore Harp McGovern, estimated at $350 million over 20 years; cash; 2000
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville: from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, $300 million; 2002
Emory University: from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, $261.5 million; 2006
Cornell University's Weill Medical College: from Sanford I. and JoanWeill, $250 million; 2007
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
- The following universities received the highest dollar amount of donations of any university in their respective states in 2006:
State College or University Amount
| State | College or University | Amount |
| Alabama | University of Alabama-Birmingham | $75 million |
| Alaska | unavailable | |
| Arizona | Arizona State University | $149 million |
| Arkansas | University of Arkansas | $92 million |
| California | Stanford University | $922 million |
| Colorado | University of Colorado | $88 million |
| Connecticut | Yale University | $433 million |
| Delaware | University of Delaware | $47 million |
| DC | Georgetown University | $98 million |
| Florida | University of Miami | $158 million |
| Georgia | Emory University | $115 million |
| Hawaii | University of Hawaii | $28 million |
| Idaho | Boise State University | $16 million |
| Illinois | Northwestern University | $253 million |
| Indiana | Indiana University | $248 million |
| Iowa | University of Iowa | $102 million |
| Kansas | University of Kansas | $100 million |
| Kentucky | University of Kentucky | $66 million |
| Louisiana | Tulane University | $73 million |
| Maine | Bowdoin College | $34 million |
| Maryland | Johns Hopkins University | $377 million |
| Mass. | Harvard University | $595 million |
| Michigan | University of Michigan | $251 million |
| Minnesota | University of Minnesota | $267 million |
| Miss. | Mississippi State University | $73 million |
| Missouri | Washington University | $126 million |
| Montana | University of Montana | $18 million |
| Nebraska | University of Nebraska | $125 million |
| Nevada | University of Nevada-Las Vegas | $41 million |
| New Hamp. | Dartmouth College | $158 million |
| New Jersey | Princeton University | $207 million |
| New Mexico | New Mexico State University | $105 million |
| New York | Cornell University | $406 million |
| N. Carolina | Duke University | $332 million |
| N. Dakota | unavailable | |
| Ohio | Ohio State University | $210 million |
| Oklahoma | University of Oklahoma | $122 million |
| Oregon | University of Oregon | $71 million |
| Penn. | University of Pennsylvania | $409 million |
| Rhode Isl. | Brown University | $126 million |
| S. Carolina | University of South Carolina- Columbia | $58 million |
| S. Dakota | University of South Dakota | $30 million |
| Tenn. | Vanderbilt University | $115 million |
| Texas | University of Texas-Austin | $176 million |
| Utah | Brigham Young University | $126 million |
| Vermont | Middlebury College | $61 million |
| Virginia | University of Virginia | $216 million |
| Washington | University of Washington | $316 million |
| W. Virginia | West Virginia University | $61 million |
| Wisconsin | University of Wisconsin-Madison | $326 million |
| Wyoming | University of Wyoming | $28 million |
Source: Council for Aid to Education
- The percentage of alumni donating to U.S. colleges and universities declined in 2006 to 11.6 percent from 12.4 percent in 2005.
Source: Council for Aid to Education