3 ms·

I have mixed feelings about legacy admissions, partly due to the fact that having a pedigree from an elite institution matters a lot less coming out of undergra

I have mixed feelings about legacy admissions, partly due to the fact that having a pedigree from an elite institution matters a lot less coming out of undergrad than it does for grad school. Graduate admissions are far less likely to have as significant legacy components, but legacies allow the school huge leeway and connections to secure funding for researchers, if not fund it directly. The article talks about the huge endowment Harvard has, and I wonder how much of the incredible research going on around me would be possible if the university were to "take a hit" financially by reducing or banning legacy admissions.

jackcosgrove 7y ago
I was curious so I looked up how much of Harvard's endowment is disbursed every year. In 2016, $1.6 billion was disbursed for university operations. http://www.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/content/20160401_harvard_congressional_report.pdf http://www.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/content/20160401_... "Using conventional financial reporting standards, 84 percent, or $31 billion, of the $37.6 billion in the endowment is restricted by the terms of original gifts." "Of the endowment that is restricted, the leading restrictions include (1) support for professorships and faculty salaries (32 percent), (2) financial aid (21 percent), (3) support for teaching and research programs (8 percent), (4) program initiatives (e.g., cross-faculty programs, global and international programs, and women’s studies) (5 percent), (5) support for libraries and museums (4 percent), and (6) maintenance of the physical plant (1 percent)." I know there may be uneven annual funding levels due to when a gift was given, but as an estimate 84% * 8% = 6.7% of disbursements are restricted to teaching and research. That's about $0.11 billion dollars in 2016. In comparison, Harvard received $1.08 billion in research funding from the federal government in 2016. https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingbysource&ds=herd https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingbysour... So federal sources of money for research dwarf the disbursements from the endowment. If Harvard's endowment were to begin dwindling, I am not sure what would be cut first of the 16% that is not restricted by donor intent, but levels of research funding would appear to be mostly intact.

jackcosgrove 7y ago

I was curious so I looked up how much of Harvard's endowment is disbursed every year. In 2016, $1.6 billion was disbursed for university operations. http://www.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/content/20160401_harvard_congressional_report.pdf http://www.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/content/20160401_... "Using conventional financial reporting standards, 84 percent, or $31 billion, of the $37.6 billion in the endowment is restricted by the terms of original gifts." "Of the endowment that is restricted, the leading restrictions include (1) support for professorships and faculty salaries (32 percent), (2) financial aid (21 percent), (3) support for teaching and research programs (8 percent), (4) program initiatives (e.g., cross-faculty programs, global and international programs, and women’s studies) (5 percent), (5) support for libraries and museums (4 percent), and (6) maintenance of the physical plant (1 percent)." I know there may be uneven annual funding levels due to when a gift was given, but as an estimate 84% * 8% = 6.7% of disbursements are restricted to teaching and research. That's about $0.11 billion dollars in 2016. In comparison, Harvard received $1.08 billion in research funding from the federal government in 2016. https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingbysource&ds=herd https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingbysour... So federal sources of money for research dwarf the disbursements from the endowment. If Harvard's endowment were to begin dwindling, I am not sure what would be cut first of the 16% that is not restricted by donor intent, but levels of research funding would appear to be mostly intact.