Each October, Harvard’s Annual Financial Report offers a rare window into the University’s finances and investment strategy. Here’s a closer look at the data revealed by this year’s disclosures.
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The fiscal year 2022 endowment losses partially offset the historic gains Harvard enjoyed the year prior, which brought the University’s endowment to a historic high of $53.2 billion at the time. Several of Harvard’s peer institutions also reported investment losses in fiscal year 2022.
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At the same time, the University enjoyed a $406 million surplus — its highest in at least 20 years — as revenues rose above pre-pandemic levels following two consecutive years of decline.
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The rise was driven in part by rebounds in revenue streams that suffered during the pandemic, such as tuition and room and board. Harvard enrolled more students last year than at any point in school history due to the return of undergraduates who deferred enrollment during the pandemic.
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Expenses also rose by 9 percent, an increase that was muted by staff shortages and supply chain challenges that prevented the school from spending more.
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The endowment distributed $2.1 billion toward Harvard’s operational expenses in fiscal year 2022, representing 36 percent of the University’s annual revenue. Three Harvard schools — the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Divinity School, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences — received the majority of their revenue from endowment distributions.
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Harvard’s endowment, now valued at $50.9 billion, is composed of an aggregate of more than 14,000 individual funds, many of which donors have earmarked for a specific purpose. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has more endowed funds than any other Harvard school or department, at $20.4 billion.
—Staff writer Eric Yan can be reached at eric.yan@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyan0.
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