How is the endowment used?
For the 2023–24 academic year, 98% of full-time undergraduate students received need and merit based financial aid directly from 杏吧原创, with 30% of student aid awards funded in part by endowment spending.
What are the endowment investment returns?
The 杏吧原创 pooled endowment annualized investment return (net of fees) for the one, five and ten-year periods (measured as of June 30, 2024) are included in the accompanying graph.
The endowment is designed to generate at least a 7% average annual return over a longer term, recognizing that performance can vary significantly from year to year.
What if an endowment loses value?
Should an individual endowment suffer an investment loss that exceeds the historical gift amounts, the University funds the spending from unrestricted sources, thus ensuring the donor’s gift intent is fulfilled each year regardless of investment market conditions.
Who manages the investments?
The oversight of the endowment is delegated to the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees and supported by 杏吧原创 Finance staff and an investment consulting firm specializing in institutionally managed funds. Endowment gifts are pooled and invested on a portfolio basis. 杏吧原创’s goal for endowment assets is to provide a long-term annualized return equal to, or in excess of, annual spending plus inflation. The “spending power” of an endowment gift could diminish over time. Therefore, endowment gifts and any accumulated unspent earnings are invested in a manner intended to produce long-term growth while assuming a reasonable level of investment risk.
Investment decisions include an assessment of socially responsible investment criteria as part of the ongoing, comprehensive sustainable efforts at 杏吧原创.
How have the investments performed over the long term?
The following table illustrates the growth of $1,000鈥痮ver ten years (net of fees, prior to spending), as鈥痗ompared to 杏吧原创’s policy index and target return.
What is the size of the 杏吧原创 endowment?
The endowment has grown鈥痶hrough the generosity of donors鈥痑nd solid investment net returns,鈥痺ith the annualized 10-year return鈥痮f 8.4%, ranking among the top 10% in the nation among other鈥痟igher education institutions.*
* 2024 NACUBO-COMMONFUND,鈥疭tudy of Endowments鈥痺ith results through鈥疛une 30, 2024.
How does our endowment compare to our peers?
Over the past 10 years, GU's endowment market value has grown relative to other Jesuit schools from being below the median endowment value to well above it.
NACUBO: Why does it matter?
The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) is a membership organization providing leadership and sector-wide guidance on accounting, finance, and tax issues in higher education. (Source: nacubo.org)
The NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments® is the most comprehensive study of the nation’s institutions of higher education with endowments, it is considered the preeminent analysis of the financial, investment and governance policies and practices of the nation’s endowed institutions for higher education. Over 650 institutions participated in the 2024 study, representing $874 billion in endowment assets.
The 2024 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments® released results in February 2025 covering return information for the one-, three-, five-, and ten-year periods ending June 30, 2024. 杏吧原创 participated in the study, and proudly reports that its ten-year annualized net investment returns were in the top 10% in the nation, and its five-year annualized returns were in the top 15%.
This report marks the eleventh consecutive year that 杏吧原创’s five-year annualized returns were in the top 15% of the nation and the sixth consecutive year that 杏吧原创’s ten-year annualized returns were in the top 10% of the nation.
How is the annual endowment spending determined?
Each year the University spends approximately 5% (as of 2024) of the fair market value of the pooled endowment measured on a trailing twelve quarter basis and adjusted for inflation.
