US: Harvard endowment rises to US$32 billion

Harvard University has consolidated its position as the richest university in the world, with the value of its endowment rising by 20% to £20.7 billion (US$32.4 billion), reports the BBC. It means the United States university has added £4.4 billion to the value of its endowment in a single year. As an international comparison, a report last week showed that the annual turnover for the entire UK higher education system is £26 billion.

Income from the endowment is Harvard's biggest source of operating revenue. The endowment, made up of 12,000 individual funds, provides the university with an investment income that supplements cash from research, donations, fees and public funding.

Last year's figures showed that the university's operating revenue was £2.4 billion, and the endowment will be expected to pay about a third of this. It means that despite charging £34,000 per year in fees, the university is not over-reliant on fee income, with fees representing less than a fifth of Harvard's operating costs. This allows the university to operate an admissions policy based on ability and to disregard ability to pay, with a £103 million scholarship fund.
Full report on the BBC site