A two-part question:

1. What is the current composition of college and university
endowments (e.g. private gifts, foundation gifts)in the U.S.? What is
the avg. percentage of each of these components in the avg. endowment
portfolio?

2. What were the size of the endowments for 10 U.S. colleges and
universities in 2002, and how did they change compared to 2001?

Hello knowledgeone-ga,

The current composition of college and university endowments, so far
as I can tell, is not strictly divisible into private gifts,
foundation gifts, etc.  Much of the composition of the endowments
relates to returns on investments (whether positive or negative
returns).  However, the amounts given to college and university
endowments in a particular year can be divided into private gifts,
foundation gifts, etc.

With that in mind, here are the answers to your questions.

RAND's Council for Aid to Education (CAE) has recently issued the
results of its survey of giving to higher education.  The press
release includes a chart with estimates of dollar amounts and
percentages for several categories of private givers -- including
foundations, alumni, and nonalumni individuals.  The chart provides
these figures for both 2001 and 2002.  On the following page of the
press release, there is a list of the top 20 higher education
institutions ranked by total amount raised.

"Gifts to Higher Education Drop for the First Time in 15 Years; Giving
by Alumni Shows Biggest Drop" (March 13, 2003)
CAE
http://www.cae.org/cae/content/pdf/CAE_VSE_pr31303.pdf

The National Association of College and University Business Officers
(NACUBO) has published a table of all higher education institutions
ranked by Fiscal Year 2002 market value of endowment assets.  The
table includes the dollar amounts of endowment assets in 2001 and
2002, and the percentage change between 2001 and 2002 assets.

"Table 48: All Institutions Ranked by Fiscal Year 2002 Market Value of
Endowment Assets With Percent Change Between 2001 and 2002 Endowment
Assets"
NACUBO
http://www.nacubo.org/accounting_finance/endowment_study/2002/104-121.pdf

Finally, you might be interested in another set of charts from NACUBO,
which show the percentages of allocations of endowment assets by asset
class.

"Table: Average Asset Allocation by Asset Class"
NACUBO
http://www.nacubo.org/accounting_finance/endowment_study/2002/037-040.pdf

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

university endowments
"council for aid to education"
nacubo

[I also browsed the CAE and NACUBO web sites.]