Key Takeaways
- • Georgetown University's endowment and total investment assets each rose over 22% in fiscal year 2026, according to public financial statements reviewed by The Hoya, bringing the endowment to over $4.8 billion.
- • Georgetown's endowment remains the smallest among its self-identified peer institutions, though its growth outpaced most of them; the second-smallest peer, Brown University, holds an endowment of nearly $8.3 billion.
- • The public portfolio returned 25% in fiscal 2026 and private holdings returned 34%, while only about $243 million of the endowment appears in public disclosures.
- • Georgetown paid out $172 million from the endowment (about 9% of its $1.9 billion operating revenue) last year, and analysts expect payouts will not rise sharply despite the growth.
- • The growth coincides with divestment campaigns over fossil fuels and Israel's military, and with renewed student and advocate demands for greater transparency about the university's holdings.
Summary
Georgetown University's endowment and total investment assets each increased over 22% in fiscal year 2026, according to public financial statements reviewed by The Hoya. The endowment now stands at more than $4.8 billion. Although it remains the smallest among the university's self-identified peers, its growth outpaced most of those institutions. Brown University, the peer with the second-smallest endowment, holds nearly $8.3 billion.
Fiscal 2026 was also the final year of Georgetown's eight-year "Called to Be" fundraising campaign, which raised $3.15 billion for research, faculty support and student aid. Over the same period, the endowment grew by 227%. Georgetown's public portfolio returned 25% in fiscal 2026, while its private holdings returned 34%. Only a portion of the investments is publicly disclosed: a federal filing shows over $243 million in publicly traded companies and funds, with top public holdings in Alphabet, the Invesco QQQ ETF and Berkshire Hathaway, plus shares in Amazon and Microsoft. The remainder, including mutual funds, private companies and foreign holdings, is not public.
The endowment funds operations through an annual payout. Last year Georgetown drew $172 million, about 9% of its $1.9 billion operating revenue, with the balance coming from tuition, grants, contracts and contributions. Because the endowment has historically been smaller, Georgetown has relied less on payouts than peers and more on tuition. Todd Ely, a public administration professor at the University of Colorado Denver, said the gains are "definitely sizable" but that payouts "won't increase dramatically right away,” adding that the campus is growing more dependent on the endowment for its operating budget.
The growth arrives amid ongoing advocacy over the endowment's values alignment. Georgetown divested from South African apartheid in 1986 and committed to fossil fuel divestment in 2020. The Hoya reported in January that Georgetown remained publicly invested in an oil and gas company six years after that commitment; the university disputed the findings, while multiple experts criticized its interpretation of its Socially Responsible Investing Policy. In April 2025, students endorsed a referendum demanding divestment from companies tied to Israel's military, which officials rejected within an hour; Georgetown increased its holdings in Alphabet and Amazon, the two companies the referendum cited, between April and September 2025. A Students for Justice in Palestine petition has since made similar demands, and the university did not respond to a request for comment on it. Advocates and scholars, including Georgetown professor Elliot Colla, have also called for greater transparency, while the university says its endowment is the "permanent capital" supporting its academic mission.
Experts offered differing views on divestment's feasibility. Daniel Apfel, former director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition, said Amazon and Alphabet's size makes divestment difficult, while David Wood of the Initiative for Responsible Investment said portfolios can be rebalanced to maintain similar returns.
Fiscal 2026 was also the final year of Georgetown's eight-year "Called to Be" fundraising campaign, which raised $3.15 billion for research, faculty support and student aid. Over the same period, the endowment grew by 227%. Georgetown's public portfolio returned 25% in fiscal 2026, while its private holdings returned 34%. Only a portion of the investments is publicly disclosed: a federal filing shows over $243 million in publicly traded companies and funds, with top public holdings in Alphabet, the Invesco QQQ ETF and Berkshire Hathaway, plus shares in Amazon and Microsoft. The remainder, including mutual funds, private companies and foreign holdings, is not public.
The endowment funds operations through an annual payout. Last year Georgetown drew $172 million, about 9% of its $1.9 billion operating revenue, with the balance coming from tuition, grants, contracts and contributions. Because the endowment has historically been smaller, Georgetown has relied less on payouts than peers and more on tuition. Todd Ely, a public administration professor at the University of Colorado Denver, said the gains are "definitely sizable" but that payouts "won't increase dramatically right away,” adding that the campus is growing more dependent on the endowment for its operating budget.
The growth arrives amid ongoing advocacy over the endowment's values alignment. Georgetown divested from South African apartheid in 1986 and committed to fossil fuel divestment in 2020. The Hoya reported in January that Georgetown remained publicly invested in an oil and gas company six years after that commitment; the university disputed the findings, while multiple experts criticized its interpretation of its Socially Responsible Investing Policy. In April 2025, students endorsed a referendum demanding divestment from companies tied to Israel's military, which officials rejected within an hour; Georgetown increased its holdings in Alphabet and Amazon, the two companies the referendum cited, between April and September 2025. A Students for Justice in Palestine petition has since made similar demands, and the university did not respond to a request for comment on it. Advocates and scholars, including Georgetown professor Elliot Colla, have also called for greater transparency, while the university says its endowment is the "permanent capital" supporting its academic mission.
Experts offered differing views on divestment's feasibility. Daniel Apfel, former director of the Responsible Endowments Coalition, said Amazon and Alphabet's size makes divestment difficult, while David Wood of the Initiative for Responsible Investment said portfolios can be rebalanced to maintain similar returns.
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