Key Takeaways
- • Princeton University's endowment earned an 11% return for fiscal year 2025, reaching $36.4 billion, marking its strongest performance in four years and matching the median return of 10.8% across 39 tracked college and university endowments.
- • All six Ivy League institutions that have announced 2025 returns—including Harvard (11.9%), MIT (14.8%), and Stanford (14.3%)—met or exceeded the median peer performance, demonstrating broad-based strength in university endowment performance.
- • Princeton's endowment remains the third largest in the Ivy League, trailing Harvard ($56.9 billion) and Yale ($41.4 billion), though the asset base has recovered from $34.1 billion in the prior fiscal year.
- • The endowment funds approximately two-thirds of Princeton's net annual operating revenues and covers nearly 70% of undergraduate financial aid and 53% of the overall student aid program benefiting 70% of undergraduates and virtually all graduate students.
- • Future endowment gains face headwinds from a newly increased federal tax rate on large university endowments; Princeton is currently subject to a 1.4% tax, with Congress having passed an increase to this rate in July 2025.
Summary
Princeton University's endowment delivered an 11% investment return for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, achieving its strongest performance in four years and bringing total assets to $36.4 billion. Michael Hotchkiss, a Princeton spokesperson, stated that "these returns will enable Princeton's ongoing support for groundbreaking research, innovative scholarship, and leadership on student access and affordability."
The 11% return positions Princeton favorably within the peer endowment landscape. According to Pensions & Investments, the median return across 39 tracked college and university endowments stood at 10.8% as of October 24, 2025. Notably, all six Ivy League institutions that have announced their fiscal 2025 results—Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Princeton—have matched or exceeded this median performance, with Harvard reporting 11.9%, MIT achieving 14.8%, and Stanford posting 14.3%.
Princeton's endowment remains the third largest in the Ivy League behind Harvard's $56.9 billion (as of June 2025) and Yale's $41.4 billion (as of June 2024). The $36.4 billion asset level represents a recovery from $34.1 billion in the prior fiscal year, reflecting the positive market environment in 2025 following two consecutive years of losses (1.5% in 2022 and 1.7% in 2023) that followed the historic 46.9% return in 2021.
The endowment's financial significance to Princeton's operations is substantial. It provides approximately two-thirds of the university's net annual operating revenues and funds nearly 70% of undergraduate financial aid and 53% of the overall student aid program, which benefits roughly 70% of undergraduates and virtually all graduate students. Over a longer time horizon, the endowment has generated an average annual return of 9% over the past decade and 9.5% over the past two decades.
Looking ahead, the university faces headwinds from increased federal taxation on large endowments. Princeton is currently subject to a 1.4% tax on endowment assets, and Congress passed an increase to this rate in July 2025, which is expected to temper the impact of endowment gains in future years.
The 11% return positions Princeton favorably within the peer endowment landscape. According to Pensions & Investments, the median return across 39 tracked college and university endowments stood at 10.8% as of October 24, 2025. Notably, all six Ivy League institutions that have announced their fiscal 2025 results—Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Princeton—have matched or exceeded this median performance, with Harvard reporting 11.9%, MIT achieving 14.8%, and Stanford posting 14.3%.
Princeton's endowment remains the third largest in the Ivy League behind Harvard's $56.9 billion (as of June 2025) and Yale's $41.4 billion (as of June 2024). The $36.4 billion asset level represents a recovery from $34.1 billion in the prior fiscal year, reflecting the positive market environment in 2025 following two consecutive years of losses (1.5% in 2022 and 1.7% in 2023) that followed the historic 46.9% return in 2021.
The endowment's financial significance to Princeton's operations is substantial. It provides approximately two-thirds of the university's net annual operating revenues and funds nearly 70% of undergraduate financial aid and 53% of the overall student aid program, which benefits roughly 70% of undergraduates and virtually all graduate students. Over a longer time horizon, the endowment has generated an average annual return of 9% over the past decade and 9.5% over the past two decades.
Looking ahead, the university faces headwinds from increased federal taxation on large endowments. Princeton is currently subject to a 1.4% tax on endowment assets, and Congress passed an increase to this rate in July 2025, which is expected to temper the impact of endowment gains in future years.
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