The Endowment: Each School’s Stake

(Sidebar) The shrinking Harvard endowment affects the University's different schools differently.

Return to main article:

Harvard’s endowment, valued at $36.9 billion as of last June 30, in fact belongs to the separate schools and other academic departments. The large chart shows the share of the endowment owned by each (the Faculty of Arts and Sciences loomed largest, at $15.7 billion—nearly 43 percent of the total). Of crucial importance is each school’s dependence on distributions from the endowment for its operating budget, shown in the inset chart. Source: Harvard University Financial Report, Fiscal Year 2008.

Chart by Stephen Anderson

You might also like

Cancellations, Disruptions as Harvard Graduate Student Strike Enters Second Week

Some faculty complain about the protests’ effect on students.

FAS Reports Financial Stability, But Rising Debt

Leaders say the cost of consultants and severance will be recouped within 18 months.  

Judge Dismisses Case Demanding Harvard Admissions Data

The government failed to meet procedural requirements before suing the University.

Most popular

The Loneliness Pandemic

As the country isolates, are we all alone?

Naval architect William Francis Gibbs, designer of the SS United States

Brief life of America’s greatest naval architect: 1886-1967

As Union Protests Continue, Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma Event at Harvard Cut Short

A conversation between the comedian and the celebrated cellist was interrupted by a fire alarm in Sanders Theatre.

Explore More From Current Issue

Delicate green cocoa pods and small white flowers on a tree branch, surrounded by soft greenery.

Harvard researchers investigate climate’s impact on cocoa crops, innovations in nasal vaccines, and links between pain and skull marrow.

Bronze statue of a seated figure holding a book, with a campus setting in the background.

As humanities shrink across higher education, one department is flourishing. Is its success a fluke, or a roadmap?

Black and white portrait of a woman with medium-length hair, smiling softly.

The outgoing executive director and Harvard Business School graduate went from dancing The Nutcracker to growing a ballet company.