Endowment - Harvard University
About the endowment
Harvard is funded, in part, by an endowment. The endowment includes thousands of philanthropic gifts donated since Harvard’s early history, many of which were given to support specific aspects of Harvard’s teaching and research work. Together, these gifts form a permanent source of funding that connects scholars and learners from many diverse backgrounds with opportunities at Harvard, now and into the future.
Learn about Harvard’s endowment
Endowment at work
Our endowment supports many aspects of our work, from student financial aid to neighborhood programs, from museum and library preservation to campus activities, from faculty and fellow positions to scientific advancement.
Read more about what our endowment makes possible
$6.8 billion
the University’s annual operating expenses in the 2025 fiscal year.
14,765
the approximate number of funds that make up Harvard’s endowment.
$784 million
granted in financial aid and scholarships in the 2025 fiscal year.
80%
of the market value of the endowment is donor directed to specific programs, departments, or purposes.
$56.9 billion
the size of Harvard University’s endowment in the 2025 fiscal year.
An endowment is a dedicated source of long-term funding, made up of donated gifts, that supports the mission and work of a philanthropic organization like a university. Each year, a portion of the endowment is paid out as an annual distribution to fund the organization’s work. Any appreciation in excess of this annual distribution is retained in the endowment so it can grow and support future generations.
Harvard’s endowment is nearly as old as the University itself. In 1638, minister John Harvard of Charlestown died and left his library and half his estate to the recently established institution of higher learning that would become Harvard University. Since then, many more donors have contributed generously to Harvard’s endowment.
The endowment’s annual distributions are a critical source of funding for the University, making up more than a third of Harvard’s revenue each year, the largest single revenue stream. In this way, the endowment bridges the gap between revenue that is brought in from tuition and research grants, and the critical costs associated with the University’s teaching and research activities. To learn more about sources of operating revenue, please visit our
Financial Overview page
Many endowments, including Harvard’s, are structured to exist in perpetuity, meaning that the institution must continue to rely on the endowment’s earnings forever.
Because of this, our endowment is not only for today’s generation, but is for all future generations of Harvard students and scholars. Guided by this principle of intergenerational equity, Harvard’s endowment is carefully managed in order to ensure that future generations will enjoy its benefits just as much as the current one.
Harvard’s endowment is crucial to our excellence in teaching, learning, and research, as well as the University’s purpose-driven initiatives and partnerships on campus, in our neighboring communities, and all over the world.
Connected to a long tradition of philanthropy, the endowment supports an incredible range of activities and work, including student aid, faculty positions, groundbreaking research, the arts, community programs, and much more. The endowment’s support for operations enabled Harvard to grant $784 million in financial aid and scholarships in the 2025 fiscal year alone.
Harvard’s endowment is made up of approximately 14,765 individual funds, the majority of which are “restricted.” This means that donors have specified that their gift must support a particular aspect of the University’s work, from specific scientific research to named professorships and dedicated scholarships. These philanthropic gifts are critical to many areas of our work, each with a unique person and story behind it.
About the Harvard endowment
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ArtLab
During her 2021 residency at this hub of innovation and creativity, Harvard music professor and Grammy Award–winning artist Esperanza Spalding brings together musicians and medical researchers to explore music as a tool for healing.
Explore the ArtLab
Embedded EthiCS
“We want to send the message that ethical reasoning is part of what you do as a computer scientist,” says Alison Simmons, one of the faculty members leading the project to bring philosophers and computer scientists together.
Learn more about Embedded EthiCS
Financial aid
In 2013, David Velasquez became the first person in his family to attend college. In 2024, he will become the first person ever to graduate from Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Kennedy School. Through the generosity of donors, financial aid and scholarships make it possible for extraordinary students like Velasquez to attend Harvard en route to becoming innovators in their fields and leaders in their communities.
Explore Harvard College's financial aid
Johnson-Kulukundis Family President’s Fund for the Arts
This fund is instrumental in cultivating artistic growth and supporting wide-ranging artistic experiences—from public art like Teresita Fernández’s Autumn (…Nothing Personal) to dance residencies to symposia to multifaceted website archival projects.
Learn more about the art installation
Bloomberg Center for Cities
This newly endowed center will strengthen the capabilities of mayors and their teams, advance effective organizational practices in city halls around the world, support a new generation of public servants, and produce new research and instructional materials that will help city leaders.
Read more about the center
Mindich Program
By integrating academics with community engagement and public service this program has assisted students like Nhu Dang ’21, who was inspired to serve her local community by volunteering at First Fruits Farm, where she harvested food for distribution to pantries and homeless shelters across Maryland.
Learn more about the program
Star-Friedman Challenge
By providing seed funding for high-risk, high-impact work in the life, physical, and social sciences this program can support research by people like recent award recipient Francesca Dominici, who led a team that uncovered a link between exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 deaths.
Learn more about the challenge
Give to Harvard
Whether you’re interested in supporting our academic programs, our library and museum collections, our climate change action, or other aspects of our mission—your gift matters. Help strengthen and support Harvard’s work now and in the future.
Give now
Harvard reports operating deficit amid federal funding cuts
Harvard reports operating deficit amid federal funding cuts
Endowment offers Harvard flexibility but also risks
Endowment offers Harvard flexibility but also risks
Harvard cites careful planning and stewardship for the endowment performance
Harvard cites careful planning and stewardship for the endowment performance
Anne Radcliffe's gift launched four centuries of Harvard financial aid
Anne Radcliffe's gift launched four centuries of Harvard financial aid
Timothy Barakett to chair HMC Board of Directors
Timothy Barakett to chair HMC Board of Directors
The Fromm family’s longtime commitment to inclusion inspires a fund to build community through music
The Fromm family’s longtime commitment to inclusion inspires a fund to build community through music