Essay The Year Financial Statements From Harvard

Based on the 2015 financial statements from Harvard, The Harvard University endowment is currently worth $37.6 billion. Of that $37.6 billion, Harvard only spends 5% of the endowment, which is $1.88 billion, which leaves the fund with $35.7 billion. Over the past 16 years, Harvard University has made a yearly investment return of 13%, and if the 2016 fiscal year follows this pattern, the investment could potentially grow by $4.6 billion, resulting in a total of $40.3 billion in the endowment fund. These estimates don’t even include possible university gifts. The fact that all of this money just sits in an account, with approximately 95% of it being unused, is a waste and donors could easily donate to another entity, whether schools or other philanthropic organizations, that their money could be put to better use at. Therefore, using rule utilitarianism and following the Principle of Utility, people should not be allowed to donate to universities once a given university’s endowment fund exceeds a certain amount of money. By putting this practice in place, it would open the doors for large donors to put their monetary contributions towards organizations that are either helpful to those in need or other schools that could use the money with direct results; the possibilities are endless. “Even with endowment support, Harvard must fund nearly two-thirds of it’s operating expenses ($4.5 billion in fiscal year 2015) from other sources, such as federal and non-federal…