Princeton University endowment increases to $23.8 billion

Princeton University’s endowment increased to $23.8 billion for the fiscal year that ended on June 30. The endowment grew by about $1.6 billion for the fiscal year as investments earned a 12.5 percent gain, school officials said.

The average annual return on the endowment for the past decade is 7.1 percent.

The Princeton University Investment Co., the University office that manages the endowment, will certify the results during a meeting of its directors on Oct. 19, school officials said.

“The university relies on earnings from the endowment to cover more than half of its operating budget, as well as to help fund its highest priority strategic initiatives,” Princeton University Provost Deborah Prentice said in a statement about the endowment increase. “These earnings enable the university to provide generous financial aid that makes it possible for any student who is admitted to attend, regardless of ability to pay and without the need for students to take out loans.”

Earlier this year, the school’s trustees approved an 8.7 percent increase in undergraduate financial aid to $161.2 million in the University’s operating budget for the current year. Endowment funds cover more than 80 percent of the undergraduate aid budget.

Princeton University’s unrestricted voluntary payment to the municipality of Princeton for 2016 was $2.97 million. The university does not make a voluntary payment to the school district. The university pays local and county taxes on its commercial properties and on some housing facilities such as non-dormitory graduate student housing.

5 Comments

  1. …and how this reflects to our property taxes?
    Correlation between property taxes and endowment is zero.

    However, the relation between level of ‘collusion’ between Princeton Council members and Princeton university and how much university contributes in Princeton budget appears to be inverse proportional.

    I would like to be wrong on this one, but unfortunately it really looks like that.

    1. It looks like it? Collusion between the town board and the University? Have any evidence?

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