University | 10:00 am | October 8, 2011 | By

Princeton endowment posts significant growth

Princeton's endowment posted a return equal to Yale's.
Princeton's endowment posted a return equal to Yale's. Photo by Wikimedia Commons.

Yale’s impressive return on investments is no longer the Ivy League’s only top performance.

A week after the University announced that its endowment returned 21.9 percent in the fiscal year that ended June 30, Princeton University publicized its own impressive performance — one that exactly matched Yale’s. Princeton’s endowment was valued at $17.1 billion at the close of the 2011 fiscal year, while Yale’s sat at $19.4 billion.

The 21.9 percent returns seen by Princeton and Yale come two years after both universities suffered massive losses in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

“The continuing strong performance of the endowment allows the University to sustain its signature commitments to world-class teaching and research and to an unsurpassed financial aid program that ensures all admitted students can afford a Princeton education,” Princeton Provost Christopher Eisgruber said in a press release Friday.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Yale has maintained an average annual investment increase of 10 percent over the past decade compared with Princeton’s average 9.8 percent gains. Harvard, which has the largest endowment in the Ivy League at $32 billion, has generated average investment returns of 9.4 percent.

In an interview with the News last week, Provost Peter Salovey said he believes University finances are finally stabilizing after multiple rounds of budget cuts across the University and positive endowment reports from peer institutions.

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