Here is a recent article about Swarthmore’s endowment: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150720_Richly_Endowed.html There is much gnashing of teeth about the cost of a college education these days, but students are not paying the full cost. At Swarthmore, the full cost in 2013-14 was $91K per student. (That is the average cost per student.) Tuition, room and board added up to $58K, leading to the conclusion that full-pay students were subsidized to the tune of $33K. http://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/institutional-research/FinancingEdu_CostPerStudent.pdf Current giving and income from the endowment fill the gap.
Some may object that the $91K number includes the cost of financial aid, but that only makes a quantitative difference. (If you interpret financial aid as a discount not a cost, there is still a subsidy to full-pay students.) The upshot is that Swarthmore’s endowment is a critical factor in its ability to provide a quality education on a need-blind basis.