This is a dumb statement posted time and again on HN... Universities are legally obligated to spend endowment money according to the terms set by the funders (

This is a dumb statement posted time and again on HN... Universities are legally obligated to spend endowment money according to the terms set by the funders (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/endowment.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/endowment.asp). Unrestricted endowment is typically a tiny percentage of most universities endowments. Shortfalls of $800M a year would run down even large endowments to near zero in 10-15 years.