Good point IzzoOne. Not all endowments are created equal. Even if the total is clear, as is the case with Michigan, one must also factor in or important aspects, such as the size of the university, state funding, the breadth and depth of programs available at the university, and the way that the endowment is used etc… For example, $2 billion of Michigan’s endowment is dedicated to the Medical school, while another $2 billion is earmarked for financial aid programs.
Let us take Princeton and Stanford. They have similar size endowments (both roughly $24 billion), but Stanford is double the size of Princeton (16,000 students vs 8,000 students), and Stanford also has very significant professional programs (including MBA and JD programs, and a Medical complex) which are draining. So Princeton’s endowment is significantly greater than Stanford’s, relatively speaking.