Poo
Vassar’s endowment is about $1.2bn with an enrollment of fewer than 3,000. Penn State’s endowment is about $4.2bn with an enrollment of more than 10x that. I think Vassar will be fine given its constituents.
Art mentioned a long time ago that endowments often are ear marked only for certain expenditures, and not to be used for general expenses.
Recent WSJ--
Nearly 200 private colleges borrowed from restricted endowments in 2025, up from 131 in 2021, according to estimates from Perspective Data Science, a higher-education financial consultant. Schools used most of the money for everyday expenses, said Matthew Hendricks, the company’s founder.
“This is going to be a huge problem as small colleges close,” said Joanne Florino, a fellow at Philanthropy Roundtable, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of philanthropists. “A lot of living donors are finding out the money they donated is not being used for what they gave it for.”
Kansas, Kentucky, Georgia and Montana have passed legislation in the past few years making it easier for donors to take legal action against nonprofit organizations, including colleges, that use restricted gifts outside the intended terms. The Roundtable pushed for the legislation amid growing concerns about the possibility of misuse, said Florino.
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It is going to be interesting. My son is at Rockefeller. When NIH and other government funding got withheld, I was a little worried. He said dad we are going to be all right. Enrollment 281, and endowment of $3 billion.