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Hundreds of restricted and unrestricted individual endowments make up Middlebury College’s endowment. The earnings from the endowment support the College’s diverse programs and initiatives, in perpetuity.
Restricted endowments may be used only in the manner stipulated by the donor; they may be allocated for a particular program, for example. Unrestricted endowments may be used in any way the College deems necessary.
Why the Endowment Is Important
An endowment is a permanent fund that helps to ensure an institution’s financial stability, flexibility, and autonomy.
Once an institution has a sufficiently large and sustainable endowment, it is then able to respond flexibly to present-day circumstances that in less secure times could create fiscal stress.
Moreover, an endowment influences long-range planning because decisions that require enduring commitments — faculty positions that will span years or decades, for example — can be financed. Equally important is the independence gained when the need for external funding is no longer an imperative for balancing the daily operating budget.
Endowment Per Student
One of the best ways to appreciate the importance of the endowment is to look at its size per student. As the chart below shows, Middlebury’s endowment lags behind some peer schools.This places the College at a disadvantage in important areas, among them financial aid and faculty compensation, which are critical to the College’s mission. |
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