Posted on 04/26/2025 1:42:02 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The Trump administration’s war on elite universities has forced them to consider whether it’s ever worth dipping into the trust.
Among Harvard University’s many distinctions remains the fact it is the oldest continuing corporation in the Western Hemisphere. The designation originates in a charter, authorizing a board of officers to oversee the college’s finances, property and receipt of gifts. Nearing his death in 1638, John Harvard, a Puritan minister, left half his estate to the institution that would soon bear his name. Five years later came a contribution of 100 pounds from Ann Radcliffe to underwrite Harvard’s first scholarships. The university’s funds, as the historian Bruce Kimball has noted, are the oldest perpetual investments in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They are the culprits who exploited dumb 18-year olds for the student loan money and caused them to bury themselves in insurmountable debt.
No, the government making “free” money available and the insane belief that EVERYBODY must have a college degree did it. So many kids enrolled in totally worthless majors all in the name of “getting a college degree” without any regard for the ROI of that degree.
I wonder how much revenue that endowment generates every year in interest and duvidends.
This particular subject has been discussed a lot here.
Some people say college should give you professional credentials for a professional career. Some college majors, such as in the sciences , accounting , nursing, do lead directly to professional careers.
Other majors are useless in the job market.
Some people talk about the classic liberal arts education, to make someone a well rounded educated person, regardless of what their career goals might be.
There’s no question huge numbers of parents think their children should go to college. What seems to be lacking is discussion of what that college education will do for you in a future career.
Paying reparations to the US.
But Harvard students get scholarships as needed already (out of their endowment, if you will).
For the rest of them? Buyer beware—and we shouldn’t be in the student loan biz at all.
GROK: Harvard’s endowment, valued at $53.2 billion as of June 30, 2024, generated a 9.6% return on investments in fiscal year 2024, according to the Harvard Management Company’s annual report. This translates to an investment gain of approximately $5.1 billion ($53.2 billion × 0.096). However, this figure represents total returns, including interest, dividends, and capital gains, not merely interest alone.
Isolating the interest component is tricky, as Harvard’s endowment is heavily allocated to private equity (39%) and hedge funds (32%), with only 11% in public equities and smaller portions in bonds or other interest-bearing assets. The endowment’s annual financial reports don’t break out interest income specifically, but we can estimate based on typical bond yields and allocation, and many of these private investments are quite illiquid.
Assuming roughly 10% of the endowment is in fixed-income assets (a conservative estimate given the low bond allocation), that’s $5.32 billion. If these assets yield an average of 4–5% (typical for high-grade bonds in 2024), the interest generated would be approximately $213–266 million annually. This is a rough estimate, as actual interest depends on the specific bond portfolio and market conditions. The endowment distributed $2.4 billion in fiscal year 2024 to support operations (37% of Harvard’s revenue), but this payout includes returns from all asset classes, not just interest, and is guided by a 5.0–5.5% payout rate to maintain intergenerational equity. Most of the endowment (80%) is donor-restricted, limiting flexibility in spending.
If you’re looking for a precise interest figure, Harvard’s reports don’t provide it, but the $213–266 million range is a reasonable ballpark based on standard financial assumptions. For comparison, an X post claimed Harvard’s private equity investments alone return about $2 billion annually, though this includes gains beyond interest and isn’t verified by official reports.
Evidently the feds were jealous.
You wrote “What seems to be lacking is discussion of what that college education will do for you in a future career.”
Yes. Prof. Victor Hanson discusses this a lot and says the universities are horribly negligent in this regard. They don’t have decent career counselor steering students to good careers. They offer garbage majors that will lead to lifetime underemployment or unemployment leaving massive debts in their wake. The universities should treat loans to students as banks do — will the borrower be able to pay back the loan? The problem really got created when Uncle Sugar took over the student loan business.
There is NOTHING the federal government cannot ruin.
To me student loans are another issue. Until the last years of the 20th century, student loans were originated by private banks only with a US guarantee. At our college the limit to borrow was $3,000 per year. I don’t know about other colleges. Once the government could initiate the loans all stops seem to have been removed. As expected, colleges responded with astronomical increases in tuition.
They could almost pay off California’s debt
“ They are the culprits who exploited dumb 18-year olds for the student loan money and caused them to bury themselves in insurmountable debt.”
Yeah. They should just go to work after high school they should stop with the education nonsense and just go to work.
Doing what?
They could be Starbucks' baristas like so many debt-buried "college grads" with "degrees" in imaginary subjects taught by DEI "perfessers."
Since they wouldn't be paying off student loans they'd be miles ahead. They could even go to trade school and make six figures fixing plumbing or circuit boxes.
“What Should It Be For?”
for replacing all the government funding they should never have gotten in the first place
All those BLM/Antifa "mostly peaceful protesters" who rioted, looted, burned and murdered the summer of 2021 causing two billion dollars of damage?
Mostly "college educated white women" who buried themselves in insurmountable student loan debt by neglecting to do any cost/benefit analysis on their "college educations."
Now their degrees in "education" or "law" will never get them jobs that will allow them to pay off those loans. No financially solvent man in his right mind would marry them to help pay off those loans.
And they are mad as Hell about it, and blame and hate everyone for it except themselves.
Thanks. And thank you, Gronk.
“ Once the government could initiate the loans all stops seem to have been removed. As expected, colleges responded with astronomical increases in tuition.”
Yes , there’s nothing as expensive as “free” government cheese.
“ even go to trade school and make six figures fixing plumbing or circuit boxes.”
Ya the whole generation ought to stop going to school and become plumbers. Girls too. Trade school. No the girls should marry these guys, get $350 k houses wit 7,5% interest and stay home with the kids
Ya the whole generation should bury themselves in student loan debt to keep the DEI "perferssers" of imaginary subjects employed, and then when they graduate with worthless degrees and work at Starbucks it is our responsibility to "forgive" their student loans and pay them off for them.
FORBES: Many College Degrees Are Now Useless—Here’s What Is Worth Your Money
TikTok millionaires and AI tools make college look like an overpriced relic, so it’s fair to ask: are degrees even worth it anymore? The answer? Some absolutely are—and some absolutely are not.
The key is relevance. If you invest four (or more) years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars, you better make sure you’re walking away with something more than just a piece of paper and a student loan the size of a mortgage.
As the value of a four-year degree is increasingly questioned, public perception is shifting to match: nearly half of Americans believe it’s less important for securing a well-paying job than it was two decades ago according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Major companies like Apple, IBM and Hilton have eliminated degree requirements for many roles, opting instead to evaluate candidates based on their experience and practical skills. A 2022 study by the Burning Glass Institute revealed that millions of job postings have dropped bachelor’s degree requirements, and a 2020 analysis found a similar trend for positions like production supervisors. These shifts signal a growing recognition that a general college education often fails to deliver the specific competencies employers need today.
Pew’s survey also found that more than half of college graduates are underemployed, working in roles that neither require a degree nor utilize the knowledge they paid the universities to acquire. Even a decade after graduation, 45% remain in such positions.
Experts predict this trend will continue, with alternative credentials, certifications and hands-on training gaining more relevance. By 2031, while most jobs will demand some form of postsecondary education, that doesn’t necessarily mean a bachelor’s degree, and for many careers, it may no longer be the smartest path.
“In today’s competitive landscape, college students must be more strategic about their education,” states Dr. Walter L. Tarver, III, founder of T3 Group, an educational consulting company. “When deciding between a liberal arts degree or a specialized degree, one must objectively weigh the return on investment.”
So, which degrees are losing relevance fast? With over a decade of experience in higher education as a professor and staff member, I noticed that some degrees often fell short of providing job-ready value unless supplemented with practical, hands-on skills...
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