The financing of public universities (see here and here) and college education generally (see here) have been frequent topics recently, so this National Association of College and University Business Officers publication ranking the 765 top endowments of U.S. universities is timely (last year’s ranking is here). Here are the rankings of some universities that will be of interest to most Texans:
1 Harvard University $28.9 billion
2 Yale University $18.0 billion
3 Stanford University $14.0 billion
4 University of Texas System $13.2 billion
10 Texas A&M University System $5.64 billion
19 Rice University $3.98 billion
55 Southern Methodist University $1.22 billion
57 Baylor College of Medicine $1.0 billion
62 Texas Christian University $1.0 billion
65 University of Oklahoma $960 million
73 Baylor University $870 million
80 Trinity University (San Antonio) $815 million
100 Louisiana State University System $593 million
116 Texas Tech University $540 million
135 University of Houston System $454 million
190 Southwestern University (Georgetown) $280 million
217 Abilene Christian University $228 million
297 St. Mary’s University (San Antonio) TX $135 million
315 Austin College (Sherman) $120 million
325 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Austin) $110 million
362 Hardin-Simmons University (Abilene) $88 million
375 Houston Baptist University $82 million
389 Angelo State University $77 million
419 University of North Texas $66 million
437 Texas State University-San Marcos $61,596
449 Texas Lutheran University (Seguin) $58,524
466 St. Edward’s University (Austin) $54 million
472 McMurry University (Abilene) $53 million
494 University of St. Thomas (Houston) $48
497 East Texas Baptist University (Marshall) $47 million
510 University of Dallas $45 million
515 Howard Payne University $44 million
523 University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio) $42 million
524 Schreiner University (Kerrville) $42 million
580 Texas Wesleyan University (Ft. Worth) $32 million
763 Laredo Community College $1.9 million
Houston’s problem-laden university — Texas Southern University — does not even make the list. Meanwhile, the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and Rice University continue to maintain top 20 endowments, but the University of Houston continues to provide the most bang for the educational buck of any university system in Texas. Which is all the more reason why the state and the Houston area should be exploring ways to supplement UH’s endowed capital in connection with elevation of the UH-Central Campus to tier I research university status.