2008 NACUBO Endowment Data is now public

[JWT86]

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@the_prestige

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.

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<p>As others have mentioned, public institutions also receive some measure of support from the state (albeit perhaps not what it was decades ago), so their endowments don’t need to be as large as privates.</p>

<p>All things being equal, I agree that for two endowments of the same size that, yes, endowment per student probably becomes more relevant. However, I don’t believe that you can compare a smaller overall endowment but higher per student with a much larger (but smaller per student) overall endowment due to economies of scale and raw overall economic strength of a much greater endowment. The ability to finance large construction projects, bring in star faculty, and fund many programs is more a function of the overall endowment strength than a per student number. </p>

<p>As an aside, it’s funny you mention Princeton vs. UT as an example. Just an anecdote showing why total endowment or endowment per student don’t always tell the full story: </p>

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Increasingly, Princeton curators have found themselves standing glumly on the sidelines. “Because we don’t have a lot of money, dealers don’t even bother to come,” says Primer. </p>

<p>Horowitz confirms that. He did not call Princeton about the Mailer papers. Why bother? He knew that Princeton almost certainly would not match the kind of money he could expect to get from the Ransom Center [at UT-Austin].

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<p>As the cost of acquiring manuscripts soars, Princeton increasingly finds itself on the sidelines
[PAW</a> November 16, 2005: Features](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/PAW05-06/05-1116/features_manuscript.html]PAW”>PAW November 16, 2005: Features)</p>