The eight Ivy League savings had a bad year in 2023. Normally, we hear that the money in these savings accounts usually goes up every year, just like the number of people applying to these schools. Although more people applied to several Ivy League schools early this year for the Class of 2028, the managers of the Ivy League savings didn’t break any records this year.
So, which Ivy League savings did well in 2023? And which one did the worst? Let’s see.
Ranking of 2023 Ivy League Endowment Performance
1. Brown University: $6.6 Billion
Brown University’s savings grew by 12.7% in the financial year ending on June 30, 2023. This increase was mainly because of good profits from the stock market and smaller profits from other types of investments. The savings went up from $6.5 billion in the financial year 2022 to $6.6 billion in the financial year 2023.
2. Columbia University: $13.64 Billion
Columbia University’s savings grew by 4.7% during the financial year 2023. This growth wasn’t as much as the average growth of 8% over the past ten years.
3. Cornell University: Just Over $10 Billion
Cornell University’s savings grew by 3.6% in the financial year 2023, reaching a total of $355 million. This was a good improvement after a year where their savings decreased by 1.3%. However, it’s worth noting that in the financial year 2021, their savings had increased by a large 41.9%.
4. Harvard University: $50.7 Billion
Harvard, the college with the most money saved up among the Ivy League schools, made $1.3 billion, which is about 2.9%, from its investments in the 2023 fiscal year. Even though some of this money was spent on running the university, the total amount in their savings went down a little from $50.9 billion to $50.7 billion.
5. Princeton University: $34.1 Billion
Princeton’s savings didn’t do as well, actually losing 1.7% in the 2023 fiscal year. But if we look back over the past ten years, on average, Princeton’s savings have been growing by about 10.8% each year. And for the past twenty years, that growth rate has stayed pretty steady at 10.5%.
6. Yale University: $40.7 Billion
Yale made $759 million, or about 1.8%, from its investments in the 2023 fiscal year, even though some of that money went to running the university. Their total savings dropped a bit from $41.4 billion to $40.7 billion. Over the past twenty years, Yale’s savings have been growing by about 10.9% each year, on average.
7. Dartmouth College: $7.9 Billion
Dartmouth’s money stash grew by 1.6% in the year ending in 2023. Over the past five years, Dartmouth’s yearly average increase has been 10.8%. For the last decade, it’s been 10.7%. And for the last 20 years, the yearly average increase has been 10%.
8. University of Pennsylvania: $21 Billion
Penn’s money stash grew by 1.3% in the year ending in 2023, reaching a total of $238.6 million. Over the past five years, the yearly average increase has been 9.5%. Over the last ten years, it’s been 9.7%. And over the last two decades, the yearly average increase has been 8.8%.
Brown’s Return Leads the Ivies in FY 2023
Harvard made $1.3 billion in returns, surpassing its Ivy League buddies. However, this is mainly because Harvard has a much larger money stash compared to other Ivy League schools. Looking only at returns for the year ending in 2023, Brown outperformed its Ivy League peers by a large margin. Despite a tough financial year, Brown’s returns were 12.7%, outpacing its closest competitor, Columbia, which only managed 4.7%.
