Every year the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) compiles and ranks the endowments for higher educational institutions in the United States. Last year was a good year for investors, and higher ed endowments performed quite smartly.
By my calculations, between fund raising campaigns and investment returns, endowments of all Virginia colleges and universities grew by nearly $1.7 billion last year, or 15.8 percent. That’s after accounting for what the endowments paid out to support university building and operations.
(To view larger version of this table, click here.)
Here’s my question: What are universities doing with that money — besides letting it pile up, I mean? As we all know, affordability is a major issue in higher education. One thing they’re NOT doing is making tuitions more affordable. Despite amassing ever bigger endowments, universities have been jacking up tuitions at a rate consistently higher than the Consumer Price Index.
Colleges and universities raise money from alumni and other supporters because they can. They hike tuitions because they can. They coax more money from the General Assembly because they can. They’re not accountable to anyone.
Take my alma mater, the University of Virginia for example. I love dear ol’ UVa dearly, and I take pride in its success. But look at the numbers. UVa increased the size of its endowment by more than $750 million last year! That compares to $190 million in state support budgeted for fiscal 2009. Look at it another way: That’s $36,700 for each of its 20,400 students! Can someone explain again why UVa had to boost its tuition this year by 8.3 percent this year? (See “What Would T.J. Say?“)
