Looks like Oberlin has an endowment of $1,200,000,000.00 as of 2002.
$1.2 BILLION. BILLION!
Pay up.
Kollege endowments enjoy a double tax break...
Tax deductible for donors (so they give more), and tax-free investment income (so they keep more).
oh yeah. How are they able to amass that fortune?
Shouldn’t they be giving all their money away to poor minorities?
Endowments aren’t what you may think they are. If you donate $10 million to a university endowment, your lawyer will advise you to draft an agreement that explicitly obligates the university to return the money to you or your estate if it is used for anything other than its stated purpose. The university doesn’t technically “own” its endowment funds. It holds them in trust to help the institution fulfill the noble wishes of its benefactors.