Dive Brief:
- The annual results for Harvard University's endowment show that it grew 11.3% last year to $32.7 billion.
- Among U.S. higher ed institutions, Harvard is the most richly endowed, and some argue that the school, like cash-heavy non-profit foundations, should be forced to spend more of its funds.
- Most schools with large endowments spend around 5% of their total endowments on financial aid and infrastructure, but Harvard's investments also lost 27% of their value during the recession and haven't yet reached previous highs again.
Dive Insight:
The Ivy League institution also lost a fair amount of cash in some bad investments, and schools in general have been reluctant to spend much of their endowments since the financial crisis took hold in 2008. Still, with higher profits than Target, it's unlikely that calls for the school to up its endowment spend will quiet anytime soon.