Princeton Endowment: Fund Size, Donations & Financials

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Endowments to higher education institutions such as Princeton University create new opportunities for students and faculty through generous donations and fundraising ventures. Endowments can vary in size from university to university, being measured in the billions of dollars per year that goes to each collegiate system. Often treated as an investment in the school’s future, these enormous monetary amounts are traditionally used as a tool to attain the educational goals each year for the hundreds of higher education institutions in the United States. Most colleges and universities turn to non-profit organizations to manage their assets and ensure that their endowments are being adequately managed while both looking toward the future and keeping the present in mind. All of the information about Princeton’s endowment can be found below.

Princeton Endowment Size: $24.6 billion

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Princeton’s endowment is among the largest in the world, which should come as no surprise among Ivy League schools. Including the university’s pension assets, capital, non-cash gifts, and donations, the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) is working with $24.6 billion according to figures produced in March 2018. Approximately 4,000 individually invested funds make up the endowment.
“These funds are at the foundation of Princeton’s capacity to conduct groundbreaking research, preserve and transmit knowledge, and provide an extraordinary education to talented young men and women—both now and in the future. They are essential to keeping Princeton at the leading edge of teaching and learning as costs increase, knowledge expands, new technologies are invented, and international competition increases,” states the official website of the investment group.
“Although only a relatively small portion of the endowment can be spent each year, its payout provides the largest portion—nearly 54 percent in FY 2017-18—of Princeton’s operating budget revenues. Furthermore, endowment payout provides almost 80 percent of the University’s scholarship budget and has allowed Princeton to make significant improvements in its financial aid policies, including the shift to a no-loan policy for undergraduate financial aid packages. It also supports fellowships, professorships, teaching programs, research initiatives, and other programs specified by donors. The fiscal year 2018’s balanced operating budget totaled $2.1 billion.”