<p>Wesleyan has had an interesting endowment history, to be sure. At one point in the 60’s/early 70’s, Wesleyan had the highest endowment/student in the country (even greater than Harvard). However, Wesleyan decided to spend rather than save, resulting in some impressive additions to the campus (like the Center for the Arts) but hurting the endowment long-term, especially with less gifts added than peer schools (hence falling behind). Wesleyan has changed its investing and directs more gifts towards the endowment now, but yes, Wesleyan is less well-endowed. However, the endowment only comprises 16% of the budget, and Wesleyan still spends close to the average budget $/student of its peer group, even with a lower endowment $/student.</p>
<p>Also note that endowment size doesn’t necessarily mean that a school is more or less attractive… is Brown ($2 billion) that much less attractive than Harvard ($26 billion)?</p>