Who is managing the endowments of the wealthiest colleges?

Higher Ed Dive

Laura Spitalniak

May 13, 2024

Dive Brief:

• A group of researchers have been attempting to determine the demographics of who manages the endowments of the country’s wealthiest colleges over the past few years. But only about one-third of the 50 colleges asked to participate have fully disclosed the information, according to new Knight Foundation research. 

• The researchers have been seeking information from the 25 private and 25 public colleges with the largest endowments in the U.S. The institutions collectively hold $566 billion, over two-thirds of the country’s higher education endowment funds.

• Through direct information requests and publicly available data sets, researchers conducted independent analyses on 18 of the 50 institutions. They found the colleges invested between 0% and 38.5% with management firms owned by women or racial or ethnic minorities.

Dive Insight:

The Knight Foundation, in partnership with New York University’s Center for Business and Human Rights and the consulting firm Global Economics Group, has been trying for years to gain insight into who manages the money of the wealthiest higher ed institutions.

This information is valuable because the endowments help fund some of the country’s most influential colleges, the group’s report said.

“We believe equity and inclusion are a general good, and that should be reason enough to push for transparency regarding this type of information,” researchers said in an April blog post about the project. “As engines of opportunity and talent, universities should also want to know if their resources open opportunities for their students –– specifically, students who want to pursue careers in finance and would benefit from an equitable job market –– and for the communities that support them.”

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