15 National Universities With the Biggest Endowments | The Short List: Colleges

College endowments, a collection of tax-exempt donations and investments used to advance an institution’s mission, vary widely. While some hover in the millions, others, such as at Harvard University in Massachusetts, reach well into the billions.

Topping the list at nearly $50.9 billion at the end of fiscal year 2022, Harvard has the largest endowment among National Universities, according to data collected by U.S. News in an annual survey. Yale University in Connecticut has the second-highest endowment, totaling nearly $41.4 billion.

Both of these Ivy League schools have higher endowments than the gross domestic product of some countries, including Nicaragua, Iceland and Senegal, per World Bank data.

The average endowment at the top 15 National Universities with the biggest endowments is nearly $21.8 billion.

But multibillion-dollar endowments are not common in higher education. Of the 379 ranked National Universities that submitted this data to U.S. News, the average endowment size is about $1.6 billion. (National Universities are institutions that are often research-oriented and offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.)

That amount is significantly less among the 15 universities with the smallest endowments. The average endowment comes out to nearly $1.9 million, with the lowest being $26,373 at the University of California, Merced.

The majority of the schools on the top-15 endowments list are among the highest-ranked colleges by U.S. News: 10 are ranked in the top 20 of all National Universities, many of which come with a hefty price tag. Stanford University in California, for instance, is charging $62,484 in tuition and fees for the 2023-2024 academic year.

However, schools with more wealth are usually able to offer generous financial aid packages to keep the cost of attendance down. Stanford is among schools that meet the full demonstrated need, without loans, of all admitted undergraduates who qualify for financial assistance, so families aren’t necessarily paying the sticker price.

The chart below shows the 15 National Universities with the largest endowments at the conclusion of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2022. Endowments were examined by campus, not across public university systems, and are not used as a factor in the overall rankings. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.

U.S. News surveyed more than 1,850 colleges and universities for our 2023 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News’ data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News produces lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data comes from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News’ rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The endowment data above is correct as of Oct. 2, 2023.