Business · Fortune Technology
Federal data flags 57% of first-time students there in 2019 received Pell Grants
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“Fortune helped a lot of great students,” said Brad Goodner, a professor emeritus of biology and biomedical humanities.
Key facts
- Avila University in Kansas City received court approval in 2023 to loosen the restrictions covering 97 different endowment funds totaling $6.4 million
- Manhattan University, located in the Bronx, drew about 7% of its endowment in fiscal 2024 after facing deficits and withdrew another 7% in fiscal 2025, according to S&P Global Ratings
- The 1,000-student liberal arts school — which boasts a statue of US President James Garfield, who worked as a janitor there to pay his tuition — eventually pulled more than $47 million from the fund
- Nearly 200 private colleges borrowed from restricted endowment funds in 2025, up from about 130 in 2021, according to estimates from higher-ed consulting firm Perspective Data Science
Summary
A college endowment is supposed to last forever, supporting students, professors and research in perpetuity. Instead, many cash-strapped schools are draining their nest eggs to stay alive. Faced with multi-million dollar deficits, Hiram College in rural Ohio borrowed from its $56 million endowment. Hiram is now working with the state attorney general’s office and is hashing out a repayment plan, a spokesperson said. David Haney, Hiram’s president from 2020 to 2023, said he was surprised to learn about the loans when he took office.