This photo of Tulane University was taken June 3, 2010. (Photo by Tulane Public Relations Creative Commons License)
Endowments that support Louisiana universities performed sluggishly when compared with the national average, but their growth is actually better than schools with some of the largest donor accounts.
Endowments for LSU, Tulane, Loyola and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette grew 2.5% on average in the 2023 fiscal year, well below the national average of 7.7%, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers . Its study examined 688 endowments with combined assets of $839 billion.
Loyola was the only one of the four Louisiana endowments included to report a loss in 2023, though just barely. The New Orleans university’s fund shrunk just 0.1% from the previous fiscal year.
The LSU system endowment reported the highest growth among Louisiana universities at 5.9%.
Endowments are funds that universities or their foundations manage to support their educational goals in perpetuity. They primarily consist of private donations. Universities typically only spend the investment income from these funds but occasionally dip into the main pot in difficult financial times.