Hartford Business Journal

16 Hartford Business Journal • September 30, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan and Matt Pilon steehan@hartfordbusiness.com; mpilon@hartfordbusines.com A nyone grading the per- formance of Connecticut college and university endowments in recent years would probably give them an A+. Over the last decade, more than half of Connecticut's 20 four-year non- profit higher-education institutions at least doubled their endowment funds, with some schools' nest eggs tripling or even quadrupling in value, accord- ing to a Hartford Business Journal analysis of college financial data. Collectively, those schools' endowment assets increased by 86 percent from 2009 through 2018, a strong rebound from the Great Recession when four- year universities across the country saw their endowment values drop by more than 20 percent over a two-year period. "Over the past decade in general, the financial markets have done very well," said Ken Redd, research director at the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), which annually conducts an expansive survey of U.S. university endowments. The steady and significant increase in Connecticut schools' endowments, fueled by stepped-up private fundrais- ing and a strong post-recession stock market, gives colleges some additional financial security and allows them to provide more student aid, as well as funding for operations, faculty and aca- demic programs, school officials say. Sizable or increasing endowments also give colleges bragging rights, raising their profile in the eyes of students, parents and even higher- education rankings. However, even at their record levels, endowments are far from a magic bullet to the ever rising cost of higher education. Amid the post-recession endowment surge, the cost of a four-year degree in the U.S. and Connecticut has continued to climb several percentage points per year, according to The College Board. Over the last decade, national student loan debt has more than doubled, to $1.61 trillion, accord- ing to the Federal Reserve. That, combined with the fact that public universities are subsidized by tax dollars, has led some state and federal policymak- ers to ask: Why should students and taxpayers foot ever increasing higher-ed costs when schools are sitting on endowments worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars? "It's becoming a bigger and bigger political issue," Martin Van Der Werf, associate director of editorial and postsecondary policy at the George- town Center on Education and the Workforce, said of rising endowments. "There are a number of universities that literally have a larger endowment than they can possibly spend, … but on the other hand, I would say that this is really not that many of the colleges." CT asset growth College and university endowments nationally have grown about 102 per- cent over the last decade. More than half of Connecticut colleges outpaced that growth. Among four- year schools in Connecticut, East Hartford's Good- win College — a relatively young school that began offering bach- elor's degrees in 2008 — saw the biggest percent- age increase in its endowment assets from 2009 to 2018, growing from $824,551 to nearly $11 mil- lion, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Meanwhile, 11 other Connecticut schools more than doubled the value of their endowments over that time, including the University of New Haven (to $72 million), University of Bridgeport ($34 million), Quinnipiac University ($526.6 million), University of St. Joseph ($33.5 million), University of Hartford ($178.8 million) and Central Connecticut State University ($72.7 million). Connecticut's wealthiest schools also saw impressive growth. Yale University, which sits on a $29.44 billion endow- ment, saw its nest egg increase 83 percent over the 10-year period, while Wesleyan University's endowment for the first time broke the $1-billion mark in fiscal 2018; its endowment grew 124 percent over the last decade. Since 2009, UConn's endowment has grown by 72 percent to $423.2 mil- lion, according to NCES figures. College endowments have seen a prosperous decade for several reasons. The U.S.' two major stock indexes — S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite — have nearly tripled and quadrupled in value, respectively, over the last decade buoy- ing myriad investors, including colleges. Schools have also put a greater focus on fundraising. About a decade ago, Central Con- necticut State University hired five development officers and tasked them with increasing the university's donor base and growing the endowment, said CCSU Vice President for Institu- tional Advancement Christopher Gal- ligan. Back then, CCSU's endowment was about $18 million, he said. With that concerted effort and the support of CCSU President Zulma Toro in pumping up fundraising, Gal- ligan said, the endowment has grown to about $73 million. "The primary goal was to … do a better job of engaging and connecting alumni to the university," Galligan said. Shawn Harrington, chief financial officer at the University of St. Joseph, said his school has also ramped up alumni and foundation fundraising in recent years. The college recently wrapped a multi-year campaign that netted more than $30 million. "There's been a continuing focus on how to grow that activity and go after those gifts," Harrington said. With state budget constraints squeezing public college support, asking for donations has become an increasingly competitive game. "Public universities are getting less support, so they are chasing ad- ditional money themselves," he said. Jerry Ganz, chief financial officer for the UConn Foundation, which manages the University of Con- necticut's endow- ment, said the school in recent years has focused on professionalizing its fundraising apparatus, soliciting a larger number of smaller donations from alumni by hosting events and concen- trating on building the alumni network. "The growth of the endowment dur- ing the last 10 years has resulted from a combination of additional gift rev- enue and positive investment return, Nurturing Nest Eggs CT university endowments riding post-recession growth wave as tuition continues to rise UConn Foundation President Scott Roberts, who began his tenure in May, is in charge of overseeing the school's fundraising as well as its endowment, which has experienced significant growth since the Great Recession. Mark Varholak, Chief Financial Officer, Quinnipiac University Shawn Harrington, Chief Financial Officer, University of St. Joseph Christopher Galligan, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Central Connecticut State University HBJ PHOTO | BILL MORGAN

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