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I think it’s a bit unrealistic to anticipate that Penn’s endowent will match MIT’s or Princeton’s in 10 years. The capital campaign is targeted to add $1.75 billion to endowment ([Goals</a> At A Glance | Penn : Making History](<a href=“http://www.makinghistory.upenn.edu/goals]Goals”>http://www.makinghistory.upenn.edu/goals)), and as of the close of FY 2009, MIT’s endowment was about $3 billion larger than Penn’s, while Princeton’s was about $7.5 billion larger ([List</a> of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_the_United_States_by_endowment]List”>List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment - Wikipedia)). Especially given that a portion of the capital campaign funds have already been added into the endowment value, it’s not likely that Penn’s endowment will match either MIT’s or Princeton’s within 10 years or, for that matter, within the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>If Penn does fulfill the Gutmann vision of ascending from overall “excellence to eminence,” it won’t be based on the relative size of endowments. As Penn likes to point out, it has always done “more with less” on the endowment front (e.g., it’s operating budget has actually survived the latest economic downturn much better than those of its better endowed peers). And the expectation is that continuing in that tradition, Penn will be able to compete even more effectively with its top peers when it has a larger endowment, albeit one that isn’t as large as theirs.</p>