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that's just misinformation. > In particular, the endowment supports roughly two-thirds of the budget for undergraduate and graduate financial aid, as well as a
by mi_lk 2y ago
that's just misinformation.
> In particular, the endowment supports roughly two-thirds of the budget for undergraduate and graduate financial aid, as well as a significant portion of faculty salaries, research, and key programs like libraries and student services.
from https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/02/staff-hiring https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/02/staff-hiring
- duskwuff 2y agoThe returns from the endowment are used to support university programs. The endowment itself is not spent - it's a long-term investment which produces dividends, not a spending fund.
- Salgat 2y agoTo add, money is fungible. $100 for one department just means that $100 is freed up for a different department.
- PhotonHunter 2y agoMoney in university budgets is most certainly not fungible. Endowments are for the most part directed for specific uses and cannot be used outside of the restrictions. Education and General (E&G, terminology varies between institutions) includes tuition (only part of the yearly budget) and cannot be used for research. Unrestricted funds are as rare as hens teeth and doubly so outside upper admin. The “color of money” is perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of university admin but explains so much about how things operate.
- ahtihn 2y agoIt only matters if the restricted money covers more than what it's intended for. If you have 500M allowed to cover education and require 700M total for it, then the restriction doesn't matter at all.