The elite Harvard University in the USA is still the richest university in the world. As the annual financial report published on Thursday (local time) shows, the renowned university in the US state of Massachusetts increased its assets by 27 percent within one year. The foundation assets common at US universities are mainly generated from private donations.
US university increases wealth by 27 percent in one year
However, the majority of these donations (around 80 percent) are subject to restrictions – they are intended for specific courses or projects. Only about five to 5.5 percent of the fund’s reserves are used each year to finance the running of the university. In 2020/21 that was around two billion dollars (1.72 billion euros).
According to the information, the so-called reserve fund rose by 27 percent to $ 53.2 billion by the end of the fiscal year in June. In addition, Harvard received $ 465 million in donations for the reserve fund. According to a ranking by the US News & World Report magazine, Harvard was already well ahead of second-placed Yale University ($ 31.1 billion) with a reserve fund of $ 41.9 billion last year.