Many colleges and universities in the United States maintain a financial endowment consisting of assets that are invested in financial securities, real estate, and other instruments. The investment yields a return that funds a portion of an institution's operational expenses while the principal exists in perpetuity. U.S. colleges and universities maintain some of the largest endowments in the world and make up the vast majority of higher education institutions with endowments greater than $1 billion.

The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) maintains information on endowments at U.S. higher education institutions by fiscal year (FY). , the total endowment market value of U.S. institutions stood at $837.720 billion, with an average across all institutions of $1.322 billion and a median of $244.426 million.

There exists significant disparity in endowment income among US universities. One fifth of institutions own four fifths of the endowment wealth, while the bottom 20% of institutions own about 1%.

Enhancements and levies The tabulated data below are from NACUBO. Some universities benefit from endowments that are not under their direct control but which are nonetheless dedicated to the welfare of one or several institutions. Examples of these foundations include The Duke Endowment, the Robert A. Welch Foundation, and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.

Taxes In 2017, a federal endowment tax was enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 in the form of an excise tax of 1.4% on institutions that have at least 500 tuition-paying students and net assets of at least $500,000 per student. The $500,000 is not adjusted for inflation, so the threshold is effectively lowered over time. $244M in taxes was raised from 58 institutions in 2022.

The endowment tax provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been criticized as funding tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy at the expense of education. Critics note that the tax could threaten financial aid for low-income students, stifle social mobility, and obstruct life-saving research. Lobbyists representing wealthy private universities continue to advocate for its repeal. The Don't Tax Higher Education Act, which would repeal the endowment tax, was introduced in the 115th United States Congress, 116th United States Congress, and 117th United States Congress but failed in the Ways and Means Committee each time.

The endowment tax was revised in the 2025 Big Beautiful Bill, resulting in higher taxes on the institutions with the greatest wealth per student: 8% endowment tax: Princeton University, Yale University, MIT, Stanford University, Harvard University 4% endowment tax: University of Notre Dame, Dartmouth College, Rice University, Vanderbilt University, University of Richmond 1.4% endowment tax: Emory University, Duke University, Washington University in St. Louis, Penn, Brown University This endowment tax applies to endowment income, not the endowment.

Endowments greater than $1 billion Private schools

Data are from NACUBO as reported in spring of 2026 but some institutions do not report. + Endowment market values of US private institutions, FY2024–FY2025 Rank Institution State FY2025endowment(billions USD) FY2024endowment(billions USD) Change(%) 1 Harvard University MA $55.67 $51.98 +7.11% 2 Yale University CT $44.15 $41.44 +6.53% 3 Stanford University CA $40.79 $37.63 +8.38% 4 The Trustees of Princeton University NJ $36.42 $34.05 +6.94% 5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA $27.37 $24.57 +11.37% 6 The University of Pennsylvania PA $24.81 $22.35 +11.01% 7 University of Notre Dame IN $20.09 $17.90 +12.26% 8 Columbia University in the City of New York NY $15.92 $14.78 +7.68% 9 Northwestern University IL $15.17 $14.21 +6.74% 10 Johns Hopkins University MD $13.73 $13.06 +5.14% 11 Washington University in St. Louis MO $13.30 $11.98 +11.00% 12 Duke University NC $12.32 $11.89 +3.60% 13 Emory University GA $12.00 $11.04 +8.66% 14 Cornell University NY $11.75 $10.66 +10.23% 15 Vanderbilt University TN $10.86 $10.25 +5.95% 16 University of Chicago IL $10.62 $10.10 +5.11% 17 University of Southern California CA $9.03 $8.15 +10.84% 18 Dartmouth College NH $8.96 $8.27 +8.30% 19 Rice University TX $8.50 $8.06 +5.37% 20 Brown University RI $7.28 $6.72 +8.33% 21 New York University NY $7.28 $6.55 +11.15% 22 California Institute of Technology CA $4.32 $4.14 +4.16% 23 Carnegie Mellon University PA $4.29 $4.00 +7.26% 24 Boston College MA $4.24 $3.78 +12.13% 25 Boston University MA $4.02 $3.54 +13.56% 26 Georgetown University DC $3.95 $3.64 +8.60% 27 Williams College MA $3.93 $3.66 +7.54% 28 Amherst College MA $3.90 $3.55 +9.83% 29 University of Richmond VA $3.49 $3.25 +7.67% 30 University of Rochester NY $3.24 $2.99 +8.52% 31 Pomona College CA $3.22 $2.99 +7.65% 32 Wellesley College MA $3.19 $3.01 +6.00% 33 Bowdoin College ME $2.92 $2.58 +12.90% 34 Texas Christian University TX $2.85 $2.68 +6.65% 35 Grinnell College IA $2.85 $2.67 +6.61% 36 Swarthmore College PA $2.84 $2.73 +4.19% 37 The George Washington University DC $2.81 $2.64 +6.55% 38 Smith College MA $2.71 $2.56 +5.67% 39 Tufts University MA $2.71 $2.53 +6.84% 40 The Rockefeller University NY $2.61 $2.42 +7.76% 41 Case Western Reserve University OH $2.52 $2.40 +5.15% 42 Tulane University LA $2.47 $2.27 +8.52% 43 Southern Methodist University TX $2.34 $2.12 +10.25% 44 Syracuse University NY $2.27 $2.10 +8.25% 45 Washington and Lee University VA $2.19 $2.04 +7.29% 46 Baylor University TX $2.18 $2.09 +4.10% 47 Wake Forest University NC $2.15 $2.00 +7.63% 48 Saint Louis University MO $2.02 $1.88 +7.40% 49 Lehigh University PA $2.00 $1.87 +6.93% 50 Trinity University TX $1.94 $1.83 +5.73% 51 Medical College of Wisconsin WI $1.94 $1.80 +7.73% 52 Berea College KY $1.83 $1.65 +11.05% 53 Middlebury College VT $1.73 $1.60 +8.25% 54 University of Miami FL $1.71 $1.59 +7.73% 55 Santa Clara University CA $1.67 $1.56 +7.29% 56 Wesleyan University CT $1.64 $1.58 +3.66% 57 School of the Art Institute of Chicago IL $1.60 $1.50 +6.42% 58 Princeton Theological Seminary NJ $1.56 $1.45 +7.54% 59 Hamilton College NY $1.50 $1.36 +9.89% 60 Oberlin College OH $1.48 $1.27 +16.56% 61 Villanova University PA $1.47 $1.34 +10.24% 62 Berry College GA $1.47 $1.37 +7.17% 63 Rochester Institute of Technology NY $1.46 $1.37 +6.57% 64 Davidson College NC $1.46 $1.37 +6.23% 65 Loma Linda University CA $1.44 $1.35 +7.12% 66 Baylor College of Medicine TX $1.43 $1.48 -3.68% 67 Vassar College NY $1.39 $1.30 +7.13% 68 Loyola University of Chicago IL $1.37 $1.06 +11.03% 69 Brandeis University MA $1.36 $1.26 +7.30% 70 Claremont McKenna College CA $1.35 $1.24 +9.16% 71 Colgate University NY $1.34 $1.25 +7.18% 72 Bryn Mawr College PA $1.34 $1.21 +10.99% 73 University of Tulsa OK $1.34 $1.28 +3.95% 74 Carleton College MN $1.33 $1.24 +7.85% 75 Pepperdine University CA $1.29 $1.30 -0.20% 76 Bucknell University PA $1.26 $1.17 +8.23% 77 Colby College ME $1.25 $1.16 +7.94% 78 College of the Holy Cross MA $1.21 $1.11 +8.87% 79 Lafayette College PA $1.20 $1.12 +6.75% 80 Mount Holyoke College MA $1.18 $1.10 +7.15% 81 DePaul University IL $1.15 $1.02 +13.12% 82 University of Denver CO $1.15 $1.09 +5.86% 83 Drexel University PA $1.13 $1.07 +5.86% 84 Marquette University WI $1.13 $1.00 +13.48% 85 American University DC $1.12 $1.05 +6.90% 86 Howard University DC $1.12 $1.03 +8.47% 87 Denison University OH $1.10 $1.04 +6.26% 88 Colorado College CO $1.06 $0.99 +7.21% 89 Fordham University NY $1.05 $1.02 +2.85%

Public schools

For public universities, larger endowments are often associated with flagship state universities, especially those with medical schools. Fourteen states do not have institutions included in this list: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Many of these states have small populations. The New England states, however, are known for well-endowed private institutions.

Data are from NACUBO as reported in spring of 2026, but some institutions do not report.