University of Florida Prestige

College Search & Selection
81

<p>Clearly UF & FSU are not holding their breath for the short sighted Legislature to boost their funding. Both are building up their endowments, and have created a culture of giving. UF is not even half way thru a $1.5 billion campaign, and FSU is starting their own $1.0 billion campaign in a couple months.</p>

<p>The problem with the other institutions in the State University Systems is that they are all relatively new institutions. USF = 1953, UCF, FIU, and FAU = 1960’s. These regional institutions also have tiny endowments, and have meager/unprestigious Graduate Programs. This is unlike UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Barbra, UC-Davis in that these institutions still have world renowned scholars. </p>

<p>University of Miami on the other hand has a legitimate chance of achieving excellence.</p>

82

<p>I would say that, when compared nationally, none of the Florida schools have done a good job in building their endowment. Based on the latest NACUBO data from 6/30/07, the facts are:</p>

<p>$1.22 billion U Florida (ranked 61st nationally in total assets)
$741 million U Miami (96th)
$549 million Florida State (132nd)
$388 million U South Florida
$366 million Rollins
$190 million Florida Atlantic</p>

<p>There is a lot of money in Florida although a lot of it is probably directed to colleges in the Northeast and Midwest by folks who came there later in life to enjoy the nice weather. Their money is certainly more needed by the Florida colleges than some of the weathly establishment colleges of the Northeast and hopefully, some of those donors will extend or redirect their giving to the local scene. Probably very wishful thinking…</p>

83

<p>I agree with Hawkette. State and federal funding will inevitably continue to decline over time. Public schools must rely more on themselves and their alums. It can be done, but it requires an aggressive fund-raiding philosophy and an effective endowment fund manager. As Hawkette mentioned, among public institutions, Michigan and Virginia are leading the charge. </p>

<p>Over the last 20 years, Michigan’s endowment has grown by 2,700% (more than any university endowment in the US), from $250 million (not ranked among top 25 largest university endowment) back in 1987 to $7.1 billion (tied with Columbia at #6 among the largest university endowments) in 2007. </p>

<p>Over that same period of time, Virginia’s endowment has grown by 1,200% (5th largest endowment growth rate among US universities), from $340 million (barely among the 25 largest endowments in the nation) back in 1987 to $4.4 billion (17th largest in the nation) in 2007.</p>

<p>It is definitely possible for state universities to improve their financial health, but it takes time and effort.</p>

84

<p>^its amazing how much foresight Michigan and UVA had…especially compared to Cal</p>

<p>Here’s a list Barrons posted plus a link to a discussion me and ucbchem had.</p>

<p>Top Fundraisers 2006-07 </p>

<hr>

<p>TOP FUND-RAISING INSTITUTIONS, 2006-7</p>

<ol>
<li>Stanford U. $832,344,826 </li>
<li>Harvard U. $613,985,000 </li>
<li>U. of Southern California $469,646,622 </li>
<li>Johns Hopkins U. $430,455,336 </li>
<li>Columbia U. $423,849,107 </li>
<li>Cornell U. $406,925,075 </li>
<li>U. of Pennsylvania $392,420,770 </li>
<li>Yale U. $391,315,420 </li>
<li>Duke U. $372,328,154 </li>
<li>U. of California at Los Angeles $364,779,738 </li>
<li>Massachusetts Institute of Technology $329,158,304 </li>
<li>U. of Chicago $328,328,020 </li>
<li>U. of Wisconsin at Madison $325,336,779 </li>
<li>U. of Washington $300,199,601 </li>
<li>U. of Michigan $293,403,123 </li>
<li>U. of Minnesota $288,750,059 </li>
<li>New York U. $287,587,458 </li>
<li>U. of Virginia $282,610,619 </li>
<li>Indiana U. $278,553,274 </li>
<li>U. of California at San Francisco $251,945,342
SOURCE: Council for Aid to Education </li>
</ol>

<p>This list makes me even more agitated than I already am. I just read Stanford announced today it has increased finanical aid significantly. It makes me regret not applying to Stanford, even though I wanted to go to Berkeley more. As much as I love Berkeley…it makes me wonder what the hell are they doing? Did they just not report how much they raised that year? For a school with some of the most brillant academics in the world why has it just recently occurred to them that we need to build an endowment? No one at Berkeley thought after previous budget crunches and seeing privates work ferociously at getting donations that the situation we’re in now could occur? Or is it that Berkeley alum just aren’t as appreciative and don’t give? I don’t know what it is but Berkeley better pick it up and get on the ball! I can understand some schools raising more but Indiana U, UMinnesota, NYU being able to raise more than Berkeley…with all the wealthy alumni that Berkeley has?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/463839-top-fundraisers-2006-07-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/463839-top-fundraisers-2006-07-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

85

<p>sofla,
Take the largest fundraisers for 2006-07 with a grain of salt. Many, if not all, of these institutions are in the middle of capital campaigns which frequently distort single year measurements such as this one. </p>

<p>As for UC Berkeley and other publics, the schools have to get the message out that they expect (and need) their alumni to give, just as the Ivies and other elite privates have done for decades. Unfortunately, many public school graduates see their state taxes as being their contribution to the school and if this perception continues, state publics will continue to lag the top privates and the gap in the product and services that can be delivered will grow.</p>

86

<p>Yes, but it’s the medical schools that really bring in the money. Unfortunately Berkeley doesn’t have financial control over the University of California-SF.</p>

87

<p>I believe UC Berkeley raised $267 million for 2006-07. This was down fairly significantly from the $347 million raised in 2005-06. </p>

<p>Since Berkeley doesn’t have a medical school, the numbers are skewed.
If you added Berkeley/UCSF fundraising, it would be ~ $519 million for 2006-07…this value would put a combined Berkeley/UCSF at #3 - comfortably ahead of USC.</p>

88

<p>Hawkette I thought about that but I’m pretty sure Berkeley has been in the silent phase of an endowment campaign for the past two years…maybe it is just now starting to really get going though. Either way Berkeley needs to step it up…if UMichigan and UVA can do it…I’m sure Berkeley can. One question though does UVA and Michigan have med schools and if they do how much of their endowment’s are dedicated to them?</p>

89

<p>If Berkeley could get financial control of UC-SF then you guys would blow away UVA & Michigan.</p>

90

<p>Wisconsin ended their last capital campaign several years ago and none is underway.</p>

91

<p>U Virginia and U Michigan both have med schools. I don’t know about the dollars dedicated to them. Maybe alexandre or a person with knowledge of UVA’s endowment can post about the endowment’s breakdown.</p>

<p>Re the top publics and endowments, the largest is U Texas. Here is a more complete listing of public school endowments for schools ranked in the USNWR Top 50 national universities: </p>

<p>Rk , Total Endowment , School</p>

<p>1 , $ 15,613,672,000 , U Texas
2 , $ 7,089,830,000 , U Michigan
3 , $ 4,370,209,000 , U Virginia
4 , $ 3,340,000,000 , UC Berkeley
5 , $ 2,900,000,000 , UCLA
6 , $ 2,184,374,000 , U Washington
7 , $ 2,164,444,000 , U North Carolina
8 , $ 1,645,250,000 , U Wisconsin
9 , $ 1,590,000,000 , Penn State
10 , $ 1,515,387,000 , U Illinois UC
11 , $ 1,330,000,000 , UC Davis
12 , $ 1,281,162,000 , Georgia Tech
13 , $ 1,219,026,000 , U Florida
14 , $ 1,100,000,000 , UCSD
15 , $ 860,000,000 , UC Irvine
16 , $ 710,000,000 , UC S Barbara
17 , $ 585,904,000 , W & M</p>

<p>and by per capita</p>

<p>Rk , Endowment Per Capita , School</p>

<p>1 , $ 324,352 , U Texas
2 , $ 180,163 , U Virginia
3 , $ 172,746 , U Michigan
4 , $ 101,612 , UC Berkeley
5 , $ 85,288 , U North Carolina
6 , $ 82,591 , W & M
7 , $ 77,383 , UCLA
8 , $ 71,430 , Georgia Tech
9 , $ 57,907 , U Washington
10 , $ 48,311 , UC Davis
11 , $ 42,376 , UCSD
12 , $ 42,308 , U Wisconsin
13 , $ 37,156 , Penn State
14 , $ 36,839 , U Illinois UC
15 , $ 34,668 , UC Irvine
16 , $ 33,678 , UC S Barbara
17 , $ 26,188 , U Florida</p>

<p>To compare against, below are the privates ranked by USNWR in the Top 30 national universities. As the numbers show, the publics, with the exception of U Texas, are waaaaaay behind and will need to do a lot of work just to keep the current gap. </p>

<p>These are grouped according to their per capita endowment numbers. The grades are mine and are considered within this group of 25 private colleges. </p>

<p>Grade: A+++
Princeton: Total Assets of $15,787,000,000 and per capita of $2,331,985
Yale: Total Assets of $22,530,200 and per capita of $2,212,096
Harvard: Total Assets of $34,634,906,000 and per capita of $2,070,846</p>

<p>Grade A++
MIT: Total Assets of $9,980,410 and per capita of $973,414
Rice: Total Assets of $4,669,544 and per capita of $907,589
Caltech: Total Assets of $1,860,502 and per capita of $891,684
Stanford: Total Assets of $17,164,386 and per capita of $867,677</p>

<p>Grade A+
Dartmouth: Total Assets of $3,760,234,000 and per capita of $642,885
U Chicago: Total Assets of $6,204,189,000 and per capita of $583,046
Notre Dame: Total Assets of $5,986,173,000 and per capita of $544,297
Emory: Total Assets of $5,561,743 and per capita of $518,529
Duke: Total Assets of $5,910,280 and per capita of $506,017
Wash U: Total Assets of $5,567,843,000 and per capita of $460,114</p>

<p>Grade A
Northwestern: Total Assets of $6,503,292,000 and per capita of $407,041
Brown: Total Assets of $2,780,798,000 and per capita of $340,159
Columbia: Total Assets of $7,149,803,000 and per capita of $310,861
U Penn: Total Assets of $6,635,187,000 and per capita of $295,580
Vanderbilt: Total Assets of $3,487,500,000 and per capita of $294,378
Cornell: Total Assets of $5,424,733,000 and per capita of $273,976</p>

<p>Grade B
Wake Forest: Total Assets of $1,248,695,000 and per capita of $218,113
Tufts: Total Assets of $1,452,058,000 and per capita of $182,145
Johns Hopkins: Total Assets of $2,800,377 and per capita of $147,388
USC: Total Assets of $3,715,272,000 and per capita of $121,101</p>

<p>Grade C
Carnegie Mellon: Total Assets of $1,115,740,000 and per capita of $110,251
Georgetown: Total Assets of $1,059,343,000 and per capita of $93,392</p>

92

<p>Yes, but publics get federal and state funding…now, as this source gets squeezed, publics have to make up for it. </p>

<p>Frankly, Berkeley’s funding, with government subsidies included, goes waaaaay beyond your Grade B privates…and this money actually gets spent. It doesn’t sit in a hedge fund.</p>

93

<p>In terms of OP’s question, it depends on what you take. And, it is often better to pick based on program than college or university.</p>

94

<p>Hawkette, the University of Texas’ endowment of $15.6 billion is for the entire UT system. That’s 9 campuses, 6 health institutions, close to 200,000 students, 18,000 faculty and 65,000 staff. Less than half of that $15.6 billion is dedicated to the Austin campus, which is still a hefty sum to be sure.</p>

<p>[University</a> of Texas System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_texas_system]University”>University of Texas System - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>Also, when looking at endowments per capita, try to remember economies of scale. A small university does not spend money as efficiently as a larger university.</p>

95

<p>Hawkette, although elite private universities still have a significant advantage over public universities in terms of endowments per capita, the advantage has shrunk considerably over the years. And the recent trend has favored Michigan to most private universities. Look at the major change in disparities:</p>

<p>1987 endowment per student:
University of Michigan: $7,000
Johns Hopkins University: $35,000 (400% larger than Michigan’s)
University of Pennsylvania: $35,000 (400% larger than Michigan’s)
Cornell University: $45,000 (545% greater than Michigan’s)
Vanderbilt University: $5,000 (545% greater than Michigan’s)
Columbia University: $60,000 (760% larger than Michigan’s)
Northwestern University: $60,000 (760% greater than Michigan’s)
Emory University: $70,000 (900% greater than Michigan’s)
University of Chicago: $75,000 (970% greater than Michigan’s)
Washington University-St Louis: $100,000 (1,330%greater than Michigan’s)</p>

<p>2007 endowment per student:
University of Michigan: $175,000
Johns Hopkins University: $150,000 (15% smaller than Michigan’s)
Cornell University: $275,000 (57% larger than Michigan’s)
University of Pennsylvania: $300,000 (70% larger than Michigan’s)
Columbia University: $310,000 (75% larger than Michigan’s)
Northwestern University: $410,000 (135% larger than Michigan’s)
Washington University-St Louis: $460,000 (160% larger than Michigan’s)
Emory University: $520,000 (200% larger than Michigan’s)
University of Chicago: $580,000 (230% larger than Michigan’s)</p>

<p>At this rate, Michigan’s endowment per student should rival, if not overtake, most of its peers’ sometime in the next decade. If Michigan can do it, so can a handful of state universities.</p>

96

<p>SoFla, I am not sure how much of Michigan’s $7.1 billion endowment is dedicated to the Medical school. UCSF, a medical school of Michigan’s quality, has an endowment of roughly $1.5 billion. However, UCSF is larger than Michigan medical school. I would venture to say that roughly $1 billion of Michigan’s $7.1 billion is dedicated to its Medical school.</p>

97

<p>The real total number for Wisconsin including WARF and other endowments pledged to UW Madison is approximately $4 Billion. That said UM has done a phenomenal job increasing their endowment fund. To my knowledge they don’t have anything similar to WARF.</p>

98

<p>Great education; free; great sports; good research; great parties; great climate; golf course on campus… what the hell else do you want in a school?</p>

99

<p>alex,
It depends on how you look at it. Below are the spreads in per capita endowment for U Michigan and the colleges you reference for both 1987 and for 2007.</p>

<p>1987 endowment per capita, 2007 endowment pc, change 1987-2007, college</p>

<p>$7k, 175k, $168k U Michigan</p>

<p>$35k, $150k, $115k Johns Hopkins
$35k, 300k, $265k U Penn
$45k, $275k, $230k Cornell
$50k, $295k, $245k Vanderbilt (I assume you had a misprint in the original 1987 data and actually meant $50k, right?)
$60k, $310k, $250k Columbia
$60k, $410k, $350k Northwestern
$70k, $$520k, $450k Emory
$75k, $580k, $510k U Chicago
$100k, $460k, $360k Wash U</p>

<p>So, based on the absolute change in endowment per student, the only school that U Michigan has outperformed is Johns Hopkins. And this has come during a period when state funding as a percentage of U Michigan’s budget has undoubtedly declined. </p>

<p>My point is not that U Michigan has done a poor job. No, as your numbers for the growth of that endowment indicate, it has done a good job and along with U Texas and U Virginia, is the only pubic university financially within hailing distance of the top privates when you measure endowments. But I hope you will agree that the challenge remains large for all public universities, including U Texas, U Michigan, and U Virginia, to continue to raise money because state funding is unlikely to expand anytime in the foreseeable future and the privates have a longer and, in many cases, even more successful record of raising capital and expanding endowment size, both absolutely and per capita.</p>

100

<p>Hawkette, I agree that the challenge remains large.</p>

<p>However, I do not agree with your logic. Endowment growth should be looked at relatively (percentages and trends), not a function of absolute numbers. </p>

<p>At any rate, we won’t be having this debate in 10 years. By then, Michigan should have overtaken all the Ivies save HYP and Dartmouth on a per capita basis.</p>

<p>And as always, you have a gift for understatement! hehe! Michigan has not done a “good job along with UT and Virgnia”. You really have trouble with using superlatives don’t you? Michigan has done the best job in the nation by a HUGE margin. Nobody comes close. Michigan’s endowment has grown by 2,700% in 20 years. In that period of time, Duke’s endowment had the second most rapid rate of growth at a sginificantly lower 1,500%. Notre Dame was third at 1,400%. UVa and Yale grew by 1,200%. Penn grew by 1,100% and Stanford by 1,000%. No other university’s endowment grew by over 1,000%. In such a case Hawkette, it is ok to use a superlative.</p>