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</p>
<p>That may be true at the margin… but from the bigger perspective I totally disagree.</p>
<p>Let’s take two schools with similar total endowment levels (roughly around $7bn give or take):</p>
<ul>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>UMichigan</li>
</ul>
<p>Northwestern has roughly 8,000 undergrads and Michigan has 25,000. You’re arguing that there is absolutely NO DIFFERENCE here?</p>
<p>Let’s say that number goes from 25,000 to 250,000 or 2,500,000 students, are you going to argue that the per capita number makes NO DIFFERENCE? That the only thing that matters is the absolute number? Of course there is a difference.</p>
<p>Princeton’s massive $16bn endowment covering a relatively tiny student body (under 5,000 undergrads) is absolutely NOT the same as the $16bn (same absolute number mind you) for University of Texas System’s endowment which needs to cover the entire system wide undergrad student body of over 140,000 UT students. But according to the logic that the absolute number is the only one that matters, UT = Princeton, when clearly $16bn spread over 5,000 students is absolutely not the same as $16bn spread over 140,000 students.</p>