The nation’s richest universities including Princeton keep getting richer.
Princeton’s endowment, the third largest in the country, grew 4.9 percent in the 2003 fiscal year, from $8.3 billion to $8.7 billion, according to a survey released Tuesday by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
According to the survey of 723 institutions, the average endowment grew by 3 percent.
Harvard’s endowment, at $18.8 billion, is the largest and grew by 9.8 percent last year. With an $11 billion endowment, Yale remains in second place. Yale’s endowment grew by 4.9 percent.
The University of Arkansas recorded a whopping 157.7 percent increase in its endowment, from $211 million to $546 million. Agnes Scott College’s endowment went down 16.4 percent, from $338.5 million to $283 million.
Princeton spends about 5 percent of its endowment annually.
