Reasons the wealthy like to give to universities

Why donors love to give to the wealthy schools

In this podcast episode of Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell explores why Hank Rowan’s $100 million gift to a small New Jersey college didn’t inspire others to support underfunded schools. Instead, donors continue to flock to elite institutions like Harvard and Stanford. “My Little Hundred Million” examines ways ideology and prestige have reshaped educational giving.

How universities manage their endowments

The CNBC video report explores how elite universities like Harvard handle their massive endowments, the ethical debates around their investments, and the tension between growing wealth and rising college costs. If you’re curious about where billions of dollars in higher education go, why tuition remains high despite huge endowments, or how student activism is pushing for ethical investing, this video offers a revealing, accessible look at the financial engines behind America’s top colleges.

Why endowments took off at the turn of the century

After the Civil War, economic growth boosted philanthropy, much of it ending up in universities and colleges. Charles Eliot, the longtime president of Harvard, realized a university’s success was determined by how much money it could hold in the endowment. His approach to endowments radically changed their role in the modern university.

The largest university endowments in the US

This US News article ranks the 20 universities with the largest endowments in the United States, based on data from the 2022 fiscal year. Harvard tops the list at more than $50B, followed by Yale, Stanford, and Princeton. Check out this snapshot of how these financial resources support academic programs, research, and student aid.

How Ivy Leagues are worth billions

Ivy League universities manage massive endowments to support their operations—but instead of simply spending donations, they invest them for long-term growth. Yale’s David Swensen helped reshape this approach in the 1980s by diversifying beyond stocks and bonds into private equity, hedge funds, and real estate.

Explore 25 of the world's richest universities beyond the US

This article from The College Post highlights 25 of the wealthiest universities outside the United States. It showcases institutions like King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the University of Oxford, and the University of Hong Kong. Learn more about the global landscape of higher education funding.

Bizarre college donations and the strings attached

When donors give to a college, they regularly prescribe specific stipulations, typically to fund a professorship in their name in a certain subject. But some of those stipulations are unique, including requiring annual graveside flowers, pet adoption for 150 dogs, or the consistent teaching of Ayn Rand’s "Atlas Shrugged."

Private K-12 schools rely on tuition; colleges rely on funding for research

Tuition, endowments, donors, and grants often fund private schools, allowing them to eschew national curriculum standards. Private colleges and universities also charge tuition, but often rely on federal funding for research.

Buffett is known for being extremely generous with his fortune

So generous that in 2010 he pledged to donate 99% of his money. He said this money “can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others.” This letter is Buffett’s philanthropic pledge, which details his commitment to giving and how luck and privilege helped him accumulate so much money.

Some educators argue society's obsession with colleges at the top of rankings has hurt the US higher education ecosystem

Why are "good colleges" often the ones that accept the fewest students? Speaker Cecilia Orphan argues that society's obsession with colleges that are often private, expensive, and that reject applicants with high frequency has done harm. Instead, she argues, we should focus on regional public universities that meet the needs of students in a cost-achievable manner.

The majority of capital in private equity funds is provided by institutional investors

The individuals who invest this initial capital are called the firm's limited partners. Private equity firm LPs include sovereign wealth funds, university endowments, high-net-worth individuals, and more.

More than $100M in scholarships goes unclaimed each year

More than $50B in scholarships are awarded each year, though analysts estimate more than $100M goes unclaimed due to a lack of qualified applicants. That fact should be unsurprising given the dizzying number and criteria for thousands of applications. This portal from the US Department of Labor lets you quickly search more than 9,600 scholarship opportunities by program, eligibility criteria, and more.

Family offices have been increasing their allocations to private credit

Private firms that manage family fortunes have been investing more in alternatives like venture capital and real estate, impacting the wider financial world.

Contrary to popular belief, trusts aren’t only for the wealthy

Trust funds can be expensive to set up, given that their establishment often requires paying a lawyer for their time. But for many, that expense might be worth it depending on the complexity of the assets and the ability to specify when, where or how an estate’s assets are used.

Around two in five students in any given academic year take out some form of student loans

Among the nearly two in five students who take out loans, 90% of those students rely on federal loan programs. These federal loans come in three flavors—subsidized, unsubsidized, and options for parents and graduate students. Each option has its own financial considerations; see an overview of each, along with what to consider when borrowing funds to cover higher education costs.

How men's volleyball teams are saving struggling colleges in the US

Many colleges and universities in the US are facing severe financial pressure from a mix of decreasing research funding, lower enrollment, and, overall, a decreased interest in higher education. For some colleges, beefing up athletic programs that aren't available at all schools, like men's volleyball, is attracting new students.

American Express caters its business to wealthy cardholders

American Express cards charge high annual fees, but also offer significant rewards and credits. It's just one way the company targets affluent customers who spend higher dollar amounts per transaction and tend to have more transactions than the average cardholder. This strategy decreases the company's risk, since it actually offers credit instead of just acting as a card network.

A group of billionaires and millionaires wants to pay more taxes

Hundreds of billionaires and millionaires have signed a letter called “Proud to Pay More,” in which they ask world leaders to tax the wealthiest individuals more than they currently do. The group, which includes Disney heir Abigail Disney and Valerie Rockefeller, re-upped their call at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year. Learn about the “Proud to Pay More” letter in this article.

Graduate/professional schools often cost more to attend than undergraduate schools

Grad and professional school cost more than undergraduate schools. Individuals with advanced degrees owe many times more than graduates with bachelor’s degrees. For example, the average student debt held by a PhD was around $125K in 2023, while those with undergraduate debt averaged $37K.

Billionaires are racing to space to control future markets

Although different companies have described focuses ranging from luxury tourism to Martian space colonies, all are building infrastructure to capitalize on the shift away from government-only control and betting big on reusability and scale. By securing public contracts and subsidies, they aim to develop strategic partnerships toward dominance in low Earth orbit.

Gifting money is one way to avoid death taxes

Gifting money while you're alive is one way people avoid estate and inheritance taxes. There is a yearly cap on how much you can give to a person before that money is taxed—but there isn't a cap on how many people you can give money to in a year.

The pedigree of one’s MBA program matters a lot to elite employers

One expert even said that having an MBA from a prestigious school is “non-negotiable” for certain employers, such as elite management consulting, investment banking, and private equity.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

The money behind Eurovision

Countries pay to take part in Eurovision, with the biggest economies—Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain, also known as the Big Five—paying the most. That unequal entry fee is not entirely for charity's sake: The Big Five countries are guaranteed spots in Eurovision's finals.

Owning a home can help build wealth via tax benefits and more

In addition to tax benefits and the potential to build equity in your home, houses are also typically considered an appreciating asset. That means their value is likely to increase over time.

The federal government sent roughly $1.1T to state and local governments in 2024

Federal grants support a large portion of state and local budgets, funding Medicaid, infrastructure, education, and housing. In FY 2024, these transfers made up about 16% of total federal spending.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Poison ivy can cause rashes year-round since all parts of the plant contain urushiol, the oil that triggers our allergic response.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.