Universities With the Largest Endowments

These schools, almost all of which are in the U.S., have billions of dollars in reserve.

Universities With the Largest Endowments

A university’s endowment — its money and other financial assets — is one factor that prospective students should consider when choosing a school. The wealthier a university is, it’s said, the better its facilities. And because a school’s endowment can include land, buildings, art, rare books and other high-value items, students at these wealthy schools usually have access to incredible collections and materials at university libraries and museums.

A well-funded university with a large endowment will usually have more scholarship money available to students. It should also be able to offer up-to-date technology and the best research facilities, as well as top-tier teaching and research staff, according to The Best Schools. All of which means that a student is likely to receive a better-quality education with more opportunities at a well-endowed university.

Here, based on figures from The Best Schools, is a list of the 60 top-endowed universities in the world, most of which are based in the United States.

60. The George Washington University

Location: Washington, D.C.

Endowment:$1.8 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$56,935

Annual Research Budget: N/A

GWU was founded by an Act of Congress in 1821 as the Columbian College. Founder George Washington believed that D.C. should have its own university. GWU has a long tradition of public service: 10 GWU alumni currently serve in Congress.

The university is the top provider of Peace Corps volunteers from medium-size universities and one of the top sources of Teach for America volunteers.

Graduates include politicians Harry Reid and Eric Cantor, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

59. Georgetown University

Location: Washington, D.C.

Endowment: $1.8 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $56,058

Annual Research Budget:$212.3 million (2017)

Georgetown is one of the oldest schools in the U.S. Georgetown College opened in 1792 and awarded its first degrees in 1817. During the U.S. Civil War, so many students enlisted that enrollment dropped to just 17 and several buildings were turned into a temporary hospital for the wounded. After the war, the school chose Union blue and Confederate grey as its official colors. Today Georgetown is a major research university with nine schools and a teaching hospital.

The school is known for its highly ranked schools of business, law, medicine, nursing, foreign service and public policy. Graduates include former U.S. President Bill Clinton, actor Bradley Cooper, journalist Maria Shriver and basketball Hall of Fame player Patrick Ewing.

58. Tufts University

Location: Medford, Massachusetts

Endowment: $1.8 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $58,578

Annual Research Budget:$220 million

Tufts was established in 1855 by a donation from Charles Tuft to the Universalist Church, so that a school could be founded in the Boston area. The school grew from a small liberals arts college into the private research-focused university it is now.

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the oldest of its kind in the U.S., and Tufts houses the only graduate nutrition school in the country. One of the school’s founders was P.T. Barnum, of Ringling Brothers fame, so the official mascot is an elephant.

Graduates include singer Tracy Chapman, actors Jessica Biel and Peter Gallagher, Indian diplomat and author Shashi Tharoor, and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

Tufts is known for its highly ranked schools of medicine and veterinary medicine. It has an enrollment of 11,586 students.

57. Smith College

Location: Northampton, Massachusetts

Endowment:$1.9 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$54,224

Annual Research Budget: N/A

Smith College was established in 1871 as a private college with a bequest from Sophia Smith. She wanted to create a place of quality education solely for women. Smith is part of the Seven Sisters group of colleges, liberal arts schools originally for women, although many are now co-ed.

Graduates include activist Gloria Steinem, chef and cookbook author Julia Child, poet Sylvia Plath and former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

56. Case Western Reserve

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Endowment:$1.9 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $50,904

Annual Research Budget:$334.2 million

Case Western Reserve was founded in 1826 and was originally called the Western Reserve College. At first, the school taught classics, but by the late 19th century, it changed its focus to science. Philanthropist Leonard Case left money to found a school of engineering and applied science, and the private university was renamed in his honor.

Case Western is known for its highly ranked schools of law, engineering and management, and is considered a leading research school. The university owns and runs a 400-acre farm near the main campus where students can perform research and take classes in biology, ecology and art.

Graduates include former U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, novelist Roger Zelazny and Grey Panthers founder Maggie Kuhn.

55. University of Toronto

Location: Toronto, Canada

Endowment: $1.98 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$26,000 and up for international students

Annual Research Budget:$968 million

The University of Toronto is Canada’s largest university. The school was established as Kings College in 1827, and is based on the English tutorial model of higher learning. The school was originally under the authority of the Church of England and the colonial government, but became non-denominational in 1850 and renamed the University of Toronto.

UT researchers are responsible for numerous important medical discoveries and inventions, including insulin, stem cells, genes for cystic fibrosis and Alzheimer’s disease, the artificial pancreas, the electron microscope and the laser-beam image recorder.

Graduates include novelists Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, scientist Farley Mowat, and actors Donald Sutherland and Raymond Massey.

54. Virginia Commonwealth University

Location: Richmond, Virginia

Endowment: $2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$14,596/$35,244 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$310 million

Two schools, the Medical College of Virginia, established in 1838, and Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, merged to form Virginia Commonwealth University in 1968. The public university houses one of the largest academic health centers in the nation, and the VCU Medical Center is ranked the top hospital in the Richmond area.

Graduates include physician Patch Adams, novelist David Baldacci and drummer Chris Adler.

53. Grinnell College

Location: Grinnell, Iowa

Endowment: $2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$54,354

Annual Research Budget: N/A

The school was established as Iowa College in 1846 and is now a private liberal arts college. Grinnell is known for instilling social activism in students and is a top source of Peace Corps volunteers.

Graduates include jazz musician Herbie Hancock and Intel co-founder Robert Boyce.

52. Wellesley College

Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts

Endowment: $2.1 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$55,728

Annual Research Budget: N/A

Wellesley is a private women’s liberal arts college, founded in 1870. The school is one of the original Seven Sisters women-only colleges, most of which are now co-ed. Their network of alumni has been called the most powerful women’s network in the world. More than 25 percent of graduates go on to lead at an executive or CEO level. The school also has a strong science program.

Graduates include Chinese political figure Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, diplomat Madeleine Albright, TV news journalist Diane Sawyer and former First Lady Hilary Rodham Clinton.

The college has an enrollment of 2,350 students and is ranked No. 3 among Liberal Arts Colleges by U.S. News & World Report.

51. Swarthmore College

Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Endowment: $2.1 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $54,656

Annual Research Budget: N/A

Founded by Quakers in 1864, Swarthmore College is a private undergraduate school near Philadelphia. Although the school is a liberal arts college, Swarthmore does offer an undergraduate engineering program.

Graduates include suffragist Alice Paul, psychologist Carol Gilligan, writers Jonathan Franzen and James Michener, former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis and astronaut Sally Ride.

50. Georgia Institute of Technology

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Endowment: $2.1 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$12,682/$33,794 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$978 million

Georgia Tech was founded in 1885 as a trade school, before changing to its current name in 1948 to focus on technological and scientific research. The school first admitted women in 1952.

Georgia Tech has a strong research focus and makes up part of the Georgia Research Alliance. The public university recently set up Technology Square in downtown Atlanta, which has helped to revitalize the area.

Georgia Tech is known for its highly ranked schools of engineering and business. Graduates include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, golfer Bobby Jones, comedian Jeff Foxworthy and numerous astronauts.

The university has an enrollment of 32,723 students.

49. Boston University

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Endowment: $2.2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $55,892

Annual Research Budget:$579.4 million

Boston University is a private research university founded in 1839 and was the first in the country to go co-ed in 1872.

The university has highly ranked schools of law, management, medicine, engineering and education. The medical school was the first in the country to combine cancer research and a teaching laboratory.

Graduates include actresses Julianne Moore and Geena Davis, radio host Howard Stern and TV presenter Bill O’Reilly. Alumni include seven Nobel Laureates, 35 Pulitzer Prize winners and nine Academy Award winners.

48. Kyoto University

Location: Kyoto, Japan

Endowment:$2.2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$5,572 (estimated)

Annual Research Budget: N/A

The school was founded in 1897 as the Kyoto Imperial University, the second university in Japan. Originally housing schools of science, engineering, law, medicine and letters, the University was renamed Kyoto University in 1947 and has since expanded to include 18 graduate schools, 13 research institutes and 22 research and educational centers. The University of Kyoto has three campuses and a strong reputation as a research center.

The school currently has an enrollment of 22,629, with 2,732 international students. Kyoto University graduates and staff have received 10 Nobel Prizes.

47. University of Rochester

Location: Rochester, New York

Endowment: $2.3 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $56,026

Annual Research Budget: $438 million

The University of Rochester is a private school, founded in 1850, and a leading research university.

The University uses an unusual academic model: Students can design their own course of study that focuses on their unique strengths and interests. The Take Five Scholars Program allows students to study for an extra semester or year, tuition-free.

The university has highly ranked schools of business administration, engineering and applied science, medicine, political science, economics, music and optics. Graduates include chemist Leland Clark, astronaut Edward Gibson and novelist Shirley Jackson.

46. Purdue University

Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Endowment: $2.3 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$9,992/$28,794 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$454.5 million

Purdue University is a public institution started in 1874 with a land grant in Lafayette from the U.S. government and a $150,000 donation from local businessman John Purdue, after whom the school is named.

The Purdue University system consists of four campuses, of which West Lafayette is the main one. The school is known for its highly ranked schools of engineering, management, education, pharmacy and aeronautics/astronautics.

Graduates include astronaut Neil Armstrong, basketball coach John Wooden and popcorn entrepreneur Orville Redenbacher.

45. Pomona College

Location: Claremont, California

Endowment: $2.3 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $54,762

Annual Research Budget: N/A

Pomona is a private undergraduate college founded in 1887. The founders were a group of Congregationalists who wanted to create a New England-type college on the West Coast. The school was named after the city of Pomona, where it started, and even though the college relocated to Claremont, it kept the original name.

The school focuses on the liberal arts. Over half of students choose to participate in the school’s study-abroad program.

U.S. News & World Report ranks Pomona No. 5 in National Liberal Arts Colleges. The school has an enrollment of 1,679.

44. Osaka University

Location: Osaka, Japan

Endowment:$2.3 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$5,672 (estimated)

Annual Research Budget: N/A

Osaka University was founded in 1931 on the site of a medical school and hospital dating back to 1838, which was a well-known center for vaccination research and cholera treatment. The University began with medical and science colleges, adding a school of engineering in the 1930s. At this time, Osaka was a well-known industrial city. The school was the only one in Japan to house a brewing school; graduates would go on to modernize the brewing of Japan’s sake and soy sauce industries.

In 2007, Osaka University merged with the Osaka University of Foreign Studies. It has a total enrollment of 23,316, with 2,594 international students.

43. Amherst College

Location: Amherst, Massachusetts

Endowment: $2.4 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $58,640

Annual Research Budget: N/A

Amherst is a four-year, private undergraduate college founded in 1821. A founder of Williams College, Zephaniah Swift Moore, left that school with 15 students and established Amherst. The two schools have been rivals ever since. The school has been co-ed since 1975.

The school is said to have the oldest athletics program in the country, and the third-oldest football field. Amherst is sometimes known as “the singing college” for its numerous a cappella groups.

Graduates include former U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, Prince Albert of Monaco, former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, and writers Dan Brown and David Foster Wallace.

42. Boston College

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Endowment:$2.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $57,910

Annual Research Budget:$63.4 million

Catholic Jesuits founded Boston College in 1863 as a liberal arts college. The school is now a private university, known for its schools of law, education and management.

Graduates include former Senator John Kerry, actor Chris O’Donnell and actor Amy Poehler.

The school has an enrollment of 14,107 students. U.S. News & World Report ranks Boston College No. 37 on its list of National Universities.

41. University of Richmond

Location: Richmond, Virginia

Endowment: $2.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $54,690

Annual Research Budget: $4.8 million

The University of Richmond started in 1830 as Richmond College. Forced to close during the U.S. Civil War, the school reopened afterward and continued to grow. The university established a law school in 1870, admitted women in 1898, and became a university in 1920.

The university is known for its law school and is the only school in the country that uses a spider as its mascot. Graduates include journalist Roger Mudd, musician Bruce Hornsby and rapper Lil Dicky.

40. Williams College

Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts

Endowment: $2.6 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $57,280

Annual Research Budget: N/A

Williams College is a small, private, liberal arts college that was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest in the country. The school was originally a men’s college but became co-ed in 1971.

The school has three academic branches — arts and humanities, social sciences, and science and mathematics — and uses Oxford-style tutorials in teaching, which emphasize student participation. The school hosted the first intercollegiate baseball game in the country and was the first to have students wear caps and gowns at graduation.

Graduates include film director Elia Kazan, composer Stephen Sondheim and U.S. President James Garfield. The school has produced 35 Rhodes Scholars, seven Pulitzer Prize winners, 54 members of congress, 18 governors and one president.

39. Pennsylvania State University

Location: State College, Pennsylvania

Endowment: $2.6 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$18,450/$35,514 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$854 million

Penn State started life in 1855 as the Farmer’s High School of Pennsylvania, when it was granted a charter as one to the country’s first colleges of agricultural science. The university later added curriculums in engineering, the sciences and liberal arts, growing to become a public university with 24 campuses across the state.

The university has a long association with the Pennsylvania-based chocolate maker, Hershey. The company is one of the school’s biggest donors. Penn State is also known for its top-ranked online education program, Penn State World Campus. The University has funded 21 innovation hubs, as part of its Invent Penn State program.

Pennsylvania State University is known for its highly ranked schools of engineering and education. Graduates include producer Don Bellisario, astronaut Guion Bluford, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum and ABC news correspondent Lara Spencer.

38. California Institute of Technology

Location: Pasadena, California

Endowment:$2.93 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$54,600

Annual Research Budget:$400 million

CalTech started life as a vocational school named Throop College in 1891. Three staff members — an astronomer, a chemist and a physicist — changed the direction of the school to focus more on scientific research and education. The school was renamed in 1921.

CalTech is considered one of the two top technology, engineering and science schools in the country. The other: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

CalTech has a current enrollment of 2,238 students, and 90 percent of students take part in research. Staff includes 38 Nobel Prize winners, six Turing Award winners and 71 recipients of the U.S. Medal of Science or Technology.

Graduates include the founders of Intel and Compaq.

37. University of North Carolina

Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Endowment:$3.3 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$9,043/$36,222 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$1.1 billion

The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill is often called a “Public Ivy League” school because of its top science and research programs. The school, founded in 1789, was the first public university in the country. UNC houses more than 50 research centers and institutions, and is one of three universities that make up North Carolina’s famous Research Triangle Park.

State law mandates that at least 82 percent of every incoming freshman class must be North Carolina residents. The university has a total enrollment of 30,011, and is known for its highly ranked schools of business, education, law, medicine, public health, social work, pharmacy and government, as well as its men’s basketball team. Graduates include former U.S. President James Polk, former U.S. Senator John Edwards and basketball player Michael Jordan.

36. Brown University

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

Endowment: $3.3 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$58,504

Annual Research Budget:$212 million

Brown University was founded in 1764 by a charter from the Rhode Island General Assembly. The school was often called “Rhode Island College” until 1804 when a graduate, Nicholas Brown, gave the school $150,000, and the name was changed to Brown University in his honor.

The university has a total enrollment of 10,257, and is known for its top-ranked economics and mathematics departments, and highly ranked English, history and graduate programs. Graduates include John D. Rockefeller, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Jr. and CNN founder Ted Turner.

35. Michigan State University

Location: East Lansing, Michigan

Endowment:$3.3 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$14,460/$39,766 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$695 million

Michigan State University was founded in 1855 as the first land-grant institution, and served as the model for all other states. The school was the first at the collegiate level to teach scientific agriculture.

The school has become a highly respected public research university. MSU has one of the country’s few environmental journalism organizations, a solar car racing team and a student-run organic farm.

The university is known for its highly ranked schools of education and business.

Graduates include basketball player Magic Johnson, actor James Caan and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

34. University of Washington, Seattle

Location: Seattle, Washington

Endowment:$3.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$11,465/$38,796 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$1.35 billion

The University of Washington was founded in 1861, and was one of the first public universities on the West Coast. The school is regarded as a center for research, particularly medical research. Roughly 75 percent of students remain in-state after graduating.

The University is known for its highly ranked schools of medicine, engineering and business. Graduates include singer Barry White, martial artist Bruce Lee, poet Robinson Jeffers, sci-fi writer Jerry Pournelle and actress Dyan Cannon.

The University has a total enrollment of 47,361 and ranks No. 63 among U.S. universities by U.S. News & World Report.

33. University of Minnesota

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Endowment:$3.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$15,027/$33,325 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$921 million

The University of Minnesota was founded as a preparatory school in 1851, seven years before Minnesota officially became a state. The school was closed during the Civil War, reopened in 1867 and established as a university in 1869.

The university has a total enrollment is 50,943, and is known for highly ranked schools of management, education and law. Graduates include pianist Yanni and former U.S. Vice Presidents Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.

32. Johns Hopkins University

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Endowment:$3.74 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$55,350

Annual Research Budget:$2.56 billion

Johns Hopkins University was established with a $7 million bequest from industrialist Johns Hopkins, who wanted to improve public health and education in Baltimore. It opened in 1876. The school was America’s first research university, and it continues to be a leading private teaching and research university.

Johns Hopkins is known for its highly ranked schools of public health, education, engineering, medicine and music and dance. Johns Hopkins Hospital is a top-ranked teaching and specialty medical center. The school is ranked No. 10 among U.S. universities by U.S. News & World Report, and has an enrollment of 26,152.

Graduates include President Woodrow Wilson, former Mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg News Michael R. Bloomberg, and film director Wes Craven.

31. University of Pittsburgh

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Endowment:$3.9 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$19,718/$33,746 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$939 million

Founded in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh started as the Pittsburgh Academy, in a log cabin on the American frontier. The school was re-chartered as the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1819, then again in 1908 as the University of Pittsburgh, a public research school.

The University is known for its highly ranked schools of medicine, education and engineering. Pitt faculty pioneered major medical advances such as the polio vaccine, multiple-organ transplant, CPR and breast cancer treatments. The university has an enrollment of 28,673.

Graduates include football players Mike Ditka and Dan Marino, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and four-star general Roscoe Robinson, Jr.

30. New York University

Location: New York, New York

Endowment:$4.1 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$53,308

Annual Research Budget:$917 million

New York University is a private institution located in downtown Manhattan. The school was founded in 1831 by a group of prominent New Yorkers and the school’s first permanent facility, the University Building, included artist Winslow Homer, inventor Samuel Morse and inventor Samuel Colt as tenants.

NYU is currently the largest private university in the U.S. with an enrollment of 51,857 students.

The school is known for its highly ranked schools of business, education, law, medicine, social work, public service and the arts. Graduates include film directors Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee, former New York City Mayors La Guardia and Rudy Giuliani, singer and actress Lady Gaga, actor Adam Sandler, actor Billy Crystal and singer Neil Diamond.

29. University of Wisconsin, Madison

Location: Madison, Wisconsin

Endowment:$4.2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$10,725/$37,785 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$1.2 billion

The University of Wisconsin was founded as a public school in 1838 by the state territorial legislature, ten years before Wisconsin officially become a state.

The University is known for its highly ranked schools of education, public affairs, engineering, business, medicine, and public health and law. Its reputation is founded on its teaching, research and public service programs. The university has a total enrollment of 44,411.

Graduates include glass artist Dale Chihuly, author Joyce Carol Oates, aviator Charles Lindbergh, naturalist John Muir and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

28. Cambridge University

Location: Cambridge, UK

Endowment:$4.2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: Starts at $27,745 for international students

Annual Research Budget:$688 million

Cambridge is one of the oldest universities in the world. It was founded in 1209 by a group of Oxford scholars who left that school to start their own after a disagreement. The first students studied a foundation course in the arts, followed by mathematics, music, geometry and astronomy.

Cambridge consists of 31 residential colleges and six schools. The University has an enrollment of more than 18,000 students from all over the world.

Cambridge uses a small group teaching session model instead of offering large classes. Graduates of Cambridge include scientist Charles Darwin, physicist Robert Oppenheimer, mathematician Alan Turing, physicist Stephen Hawking and actor Sir Ian McKellen.

27. The National University of Singapore

Location: Singapore

Endowment:$4.35 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: Starts at $12,948 for international students

Annual Research Budget: N/A

NUS started in 1905 as a government medical school with 23 students, and became the Singapore campus of the University of Malaya in 1949. The school became the National University of Singapore in 1980.

NUS is a major research center in Asia, especially in the biomedical and life sciences, including bioengineering, AI and nanotechnology.

The school currently has three campuses across the city-state, and an enrollment of 40,000 students.

26. Oxford University

Location: Oxford, UK

Endowment:$4.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: Starts at $34,352 for international students

Annual Research Budget:$704 million

Oxford University is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and dates back to around 1096. Since that time, the university has been a center for both scientific discovery and religious debate. Women were first admitted in 1878, and the all-male colleges went co-ed in 1974. Oxford is a leading center for research in the natural and applied sciences, particularly medicine.

Oxford has an enrollment of more than 24,000 students. Nearly 43 percent of these students come from outside the UK.

Graduates include 25 British Prime Ministers, 50 Nobel Laureates, economist Adam Smith, physicist Albert Einstein, writers Aldous Huxley and J.R.R. Tolkien, and media baron Rupert Murdoch.

25. Vanderbilt University

Location: Nashville, Tennessee

Endowment:$4.6 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$52,070

Annual Research Budget:$712 million

Industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt established Vanderbilt University established by after the Civil War in an attempt to help heal the still-divided country through education.

Vanderbilt is known for its highly ranked schools of education, management, engineering, law, music, medicine and nursing. The Vanderbilt Medical Center is ranked as one of the best in the country. Famous graduates include novelist James Patterson, former CEO of Time, Inc. Ann Moore and former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler.

Vanderbilt has the second happiest students on a college campus in the country, according to The Princeton Review.

24. Ohio State University

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Endowment:$5.2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$11,084/$32,061 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$864 million

Ohio State University was founded in 1870 by the Ohio General Assembly as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, and it opened in 1873. In 1878, the Board of Trustees widened the curriculum to offer a comprehensive liberal arts education, and changed the name to The Ohio State University. The first graduating class consisted of 25 students, including two women.

Ohio State is known for its highly ranked schools of education, human ecology, business and medicine. The university is also recognized for its top-rated teaching medical research center and cancer hospital. The university has an enrollment of 61,170.

Famous graduates include writer James Thurber, artist Roy Lichtenstein golfer Jack Nicklaus and Olympian Jesse Owens.

23. Dartmouth College

Location: Hanover, New Hampshire

Endowment:$5.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$57,204

Annual Research Budget:$308 million

Dartmouth was founded in 1769 by Reverend Eleazar Wheelock as a school to educate Native Americans; it became a private college for all. Much of Dartmouth’s endowment is held in buildings and land assets, and the school is the single-largest landowner in the area.

Dartmouth, with an enrollment of 6,571, is known for its highly ranked schools of business, engineering and medicine. Dartmouth is where the BASIC programming language was invented.

Famous graduates include the poet Robert Frost, writer Dr. Seuss, actress and writer Mindy Kaling, and television creator Shonda Rhimes. The movie “Animal House” was based on a Dartmouth fraternity.

22. University of Southern California

Location: Los Angeles, California

Endowment:$5.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$57,256

Annual Research Budget:$891 million

The University of Southern California is a private research university. It was founded in 1880 when a group of local citizens, led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney, secured land and financial support. When USC first opened in 1880, with 53 students and 10 teachers, the city didn’t have paved streets, electric lights or telephones.

USC is known for its highly ranked schools of business, education, engineering, law, medicine, social work, communication, and journalism and cinematic arts. Graduates include well-known film directors George Lucas and Judd Apatow.

Faculty members have received five MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and six Nobel Prizes. The university has an enrollment of 47,310.

21. Rice University

Location: Houston, Texas

Endowment: $5.8 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$49,112

Annual Research Budget:$167 million

Rice University started life as the Rice Institute in 1912, founded by businessman William Marsh Rice, with a donation of $4.6 million. It is now a leading private research university.

University researchers and faculty helped produce the first artificial heart, and three of them shared a Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work with nanoparticles and nanotechnology.

Rice is known for its highly ranked schools of business, engineering, architecture, humanities, music, and natural and social sciences.

20. Cornell University

Location: Ithaca, New York

Endowment:$6.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$57,222

Annual Research Budget: $985 million

Cornell is a private, Ivy League university located in upstate New York. The university was founded with $500,000 and land donated by former New York State Senator Ezra Cornell. Most of Cornell’s assets are in the form of land and buildings.

The school’s known for its top-ranked colleges of veterinary medicine, hotel administration, Southeast Asian studies and architecture, as well as management, engineering, law and medicine schools.

Fifty Nobel Laureates are associated with the school as either alumni or faculty. Cornell awarded the world’s first degrees in journalism and the first degree in the U.S. in veterinary medicine. The University was also home to the first schools of industrial and labor relations and hotel administration in the country.

The university has an enrollment of 23,600 and is ranked No. 17 among U.S. universities by U.S. News & World Report.

19. University of Virginia

Location: Charlottesville, Virginia

Endowment:$6.95 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $16,640/$49,970 (in-state/out-of-state)

Annual Research Budget:$469 million

Thomas Jefferson founded the public university in 1819, and the school owns one of the 25 surviving original copies of the Declaration of Independence.

The University of Virginia is known for its highly ranked schools of business, education, engineering, law and medicine. UVA has an enrollment of 24,639.

18. Emory University

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Endowment: $7.31 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees:$43,392

Annual Research Budget: $734 million

Emory is a private research university with a focus on health care and medical research. The school’s mascot? A biology lab skeleton.

The school was founded in 1836 by the Methodist Church. In 1915, the growing university received a land grant and $1 million from Asa Calder, the founder of Coca-Cola. The soft drink company owners have generously supported Emory since then as the school has grown to become one of the nation’s top research universities. It’s considered bad taste to drink any other soft drink than Coke on campus.

Emory has highly ranked schools of medicine, nursing and public health, as well as the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute and the Neurosciences Initiative.

The University’s joint biomedical engineering program ranks No. 3 in the country. The school has an enrollment of 14,459.

17. The University of Chicago

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Endowment: $7.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $57,006

Annual Research Budget: $420 million

In 1890, oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller donated $600,000 to establish the private University of Chicago. The retailer Marshall Field gave land and the American Baptist Education Society also made donations.

The University is known for its highly ranked law, business and medical schools, and counts 89 Nobel Prize winners among its faculty and alumni.

The school has a total enrollment of 13,736. U.S News & World Report ranks The University of Chicago No. 3 among national universities.

16. Washington University

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Endowment: $7.86 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $53,399

Annual Research Budget: $741 million

Washington University was founded in downtown St. Louis in 1853. Waves of immigrants were arriving in the city and needed industrial training and basic education courses that wouldn’t conflict with daytime jobs. The new school was set up as an evening program, eventually growing into a fully fledged university offering science, liberal arts and classics courses. Over time, the university opened law and fine arts schools and acquired the St. Louis Medical College in 1899.

The University moved to its current location in Danforth west of the city in 1900 then expanded. The University currently has two campuses: the 169-acre Danforth site and a 164-acre medical campus in St. Louis’s West End. Current student enrollment at the private university is 15,303.

Washington University is ranked in the top 10 for research medical and architecture schools, and in the top 25 schools for entrepreneurs. The university’s social work, business, law, medicine, design and visual arts, engineering and applied science and education schools are all highly ranked. The art museum has one of the best university collections in the U.S., including works by Picasso and Jackson Pollock.

15. Duke University

Location: Durham, North Carolina

Endowment: $8.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $53,760

Annual Research Budget: $1.06 billion

Duke University started life as Trinity College, in 1838, established by local Methodist and Quaker communities. In 1892, the Duke family donated land and $85,000 to relocate the school to Durham, where in 1924, the school changed its name to Duke University. The Dukes were a Durham family that had made their fortune in tobacco and electricity. Patriarch Washington Duke donated $300,000 to the university, on the condition that women are admitted. Duke University is still linked with the United Methodist Church.

Duke has 16,294 students across all its programs and schools, and is well known for its business, engineering, law, medicine, nursing and public policy schools. U.S. News & World Report ranks Duke No. 8 among national universities.

14. University of California

Location: California

Endowment: $9.78 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees (in-state/out-of-state): $13,900/$42,900

Annual Research Budget: $4.4 billion

The University of California was first set up in 1869 in Berkeley, California, as a public school for the state, and its first class consisted of 38 students. Since then, the system of schools has grown to ten campuses, five medical centers and 238,700 students.

Five University of California campuses are ranked in the top 50 schools in the U.S. The University of California system has 61 Nobel Laureates among its staff and alumni and its schools are leaders in biotechnology, computer science, art and architecture.

13. Northwestern University

Location: Evanston, Illinois

Endowment: $9.8 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $54,567

Annual Research Budget: $702.1 million

Opened in 1855 on the shores of Lake Michigan outside Chicago, Illinois, Northwestern University was originally established to serve people in the Northwest Territory of the U.S. Over the years, the University expanded its campus along the lakeshore and also built a second campus in the city of Chicago after a large donation from the widow of the founder of the Montgomery Ward stores; much of the school’s wealth is held as building and land assets.

Northwestern’s business, education and law schools are all ranked in the top ten in the country. U.S. News & World Report ranks Northwestern No. 10 among national universities. The University has three campuses: two in Illinois, and one in Doha, Qatar, and over 21,000 students across all its campuses.

12. Columbia University

Location: New York, New York

Endowment: $10.87 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $59,430

Annual Research Budget: $837 million

Columbia University was founded in 1754 as King’s College by King George II of England. Columbia is the oldest college or university in New York, and the fifth oldest in the U.S. The first class, in July 1754, had eight students, and the first medical school in the country was established at King’s College in 1767. Renamed Columbia College in 1784, the school opened a law school in 1858, a mining school in 1864 and awarded its first PhD degree in 1875. In 1896, the school officially became Columbia University.

Columbia is known for its business, teaching, medical, journalism and law schools. Since 1901, 84 Columbia staff or alumni have been awarded a Nobel Prize, including eight current faculty members. The university earns about $200 million each year from patent-related businesses. Columbia also administers the Pulitzer Prizes each year.

Columbia has a total enrollment of 25,968 students. U.S. News & World Report ranks Columbia University No. 3 in national universities, tying with MIT, Yale and the University of Chicago.

11. University of Michigan

Location: Michigan

Endowment: $10.9 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees (in-state/out-of-state): $11,820/$49,350

Annual Research Budget: $1.55 billion

Established in 1817 as a single, two-story building in Detroit, the original school taught primary, secondary and college education. The school formally became a university in 1835, two years before Michigan became a state in the union. The medical school opened in 1850, the observatory in 1854, the first chemical laboratory at a university in 1856, the law school in 1859, a hospital in 1869 and the first university-based college of dentistry in 1875. The Detroit-based Ford Motor Company was an important early benefactor. The University now has three campuses across the state.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) rated the University of Michigan as the top public research university in the country and U.S. News & World Report ranked Michigan No. 4 among the top public schools in the U.S.

The University has more than 61,000 students across its three campuses.

10. Texas A&M University

Location: Texas

Endowment: $11.55 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees (in-state/out-of-state): $8,637/$21,087

Annual Research Budget: $996 million

Texas Agriculture and Mechanical College (Texas A&M) is a system of schools throughout Texas, with 11 separate universities in the state, seven research agencies and more than 153,000 students. The original college was established in 1876, set up as a system of schools in 1948 and gained university status in 1963. Texas A&M has a strong reputation as a research center, with projects funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health. U.S. News & World Report ranks Texas A&M No.16 among the top public schools in the country.

9. University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Endowment: $12.2 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $55,584

Annual Research Budget: $928 million

In 1751, Benjamin Franklin persuaded 24 fellow trustees to purchase an unfinished charity school — that Franklin named the Academy and Charitable School — and set it up for both “children of the gentry and working class alike,” according to the University of Pennsylvania’s website. Franklin served as the school’s first President, and set out to train young men “for leadership in business, government and public service.”

The University of Pennsylvania established the first medical school in America in 1765, the first business school, Wharton, in 1881 — named for industrialist and benefactor Joseph Wharton — and had the first female President of an Ivy League school in 1994.

In 2018, Penn had a total of 25,860 students, both full and part-time. The University is known for its highly ranked schools of business, education, engineering, law and medicine. U.S. News & World Report ranks Penn No. 8 among national universities.

8. University of Notre Dame

Location: South Bend, Indiana

Endowment: $13.1 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $53,391

Annual Research Budget: $202 million

Notre Dame is a private Catholic university founded in 1842, on land donated by the school’s first benefactor, a former Catholic bishop. The school’s total current enrollment is 12,467. More than half its students go abroad for at least a semester to study; Notre Dame ranks in the top ten of schools whose students study overseas. The concept of public service plays a key role in the education.

Notre Dame is well known for is business, law and architecture schools. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Notre Dame No. 18 among national universities.

7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Endowment: $14.8 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $51,832

Annual Research Budget: $946 million

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology was founded in 1865 with money donated by George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak, to “accelerate the nation’s industrial revolution,” according to the MIT website. MIT seems to attract anonymous donors: The original fund that started the school was given by a mysterious Mr. Smith, who later turned out to be George Eastman. More recently, in 2017, MIT received an anonymous donation of $140 million.

MIT is a world leader in science, engineering and technology research and education. The school counts 90 Nobel Laureates, 59 National Medal of Science winners and 75 MacArthur Fellows among alumni and staff.

MIT currently has 11,574 students, with 4,602 undergraduates. U.S. News & World Report ranks MIT No. 3 on its list of top universities, tied with Columbia, Yale and the University of Chicago.

6. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Location: Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Endowment: $20 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: Unknown

Annual Research Budget: Unknown

Based on the tradition of “Houses of Wisdom,” or centers for learning and research established throughout the Islamic world in the 7th to 17th centuries, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was established by the former Saudi monarch in 2009 as a graduate research university of science and technology. Launched with a $10 billion endowment, the university had an endowment of $20 billion in 2015).

The university is home to the fastest supercomputer in Asia, known as Shaheen, and has been ranked No. 19 on the Nature Index of high-impact research institutions. With over 1,500 alumni, KAUST awarded 110 Master and 76 Ph.D. degrees in 2017, and had 1,000 students in 2018. In addition to being a university campus, KAUST is also its own city on the shores of the Red Sea, including a research park and marine sanctuary. KAUST is the first mixed-gender university in Saudi Arabia.

5. Princeton University

Location: Princeton, New Jersey

Endowment: $23.8 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $49,450

Annual Research Budget: $305 million

One of the oldest colleges in the country, Princeton University was founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey. While Princeton is currently ranked No. 1 in national universities by U.S. News & World Report, its level of endowments at $23.8 billion bring it in at No. 5 on this list.

Princeton contains a world-renowned art museum, founded in 1882, with over 100,000 pieces in its collection, including works by Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. Princeton’s single largest donation was $300 million worth of rare books in 2015, given by alumnus William H. Scheide.

Nassau Hall, on the current campus, once served as a meeting place for the Continental Congress in 1783. Princeton continues a long tradition of public service with its world-famous School of Public and International Affairs. Princeton is also renowned as a center for physics research, with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the Institute for Advanced Study (which once had Albert Einstein as a staff member.)

Princeton has produced 17 Nobel Prize winners, two U.S. Presidents and three current Supreme Court judges. Current total enrollment: 8,273 students.

4. Stanford University

Location: Palo Alto, California

Endowment: $26.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $51,354

Annual Research Budget: $1.07 billion

Stanford University, opened in 1891, was built and funded by railroad magnate and former state governor Leland Stanford on the site of a former 8,000-acre stock farm, now valuable land in the San Francisco Bay area.

Stanford has the fourth largest endowment in the U.S., at $26.5 billion, and is the tenth-ranked school academically in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Stanford is well known for its highly ranked schools of education, engineering, law, medicine and business. Stanford’s total student enrollment is 17,178, with 7,062 undergraduates.

In 1951, the university established the Stanford Research Park for technology firms started by staff and students, which helped give rise to nearby Silicon Valley. North America’s first website went online at Stanford’s National Accelerator Laboratory in 1991. Stanford is a world-leader in artificial intelligence, robotics, energy technology and human design.

3. University of Texas

Location: Texas

Endowment: $26.5 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $36,744

Annual Research Budget: $622 million

The University of Texas is one of the U.S.’s largest state-school systems, with eight separate colleges and six health centers, and 236,000 students enrolled across its campuses. The University of Texas gives one-third of all undergraduate degrees and two-thirds of health professional degrees in the state of Texas each year. The combined endowment of the UT system is estimated at more than $26.5 billion.

Having a strong medical research focus, the University of Texas system ranks third for patent applications in the U.S. and is a world-leader in cancer research, containing three of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Centers on its campuses. In 2016, the UT system established two new medical schools.

The UT system has produced seven Nobel Laureates, two Pulitzer Prize winners and over 150 members of the National Academies of Medicine, Sciences and Engineering.

2. Yale University

Location: New Haven, Connecticut

Endowment: $29.4 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $53,430

Annual Research Budget: $881 million

Yale University started life as the Collegiate School in 1701, as a place that would keep alive the “tradition of European liberal education” in America, according to the Yale website. The school was renamed after Welsh merchant Elihu Yale (at the time one of the richest men in the world) who donated money, 417 books and a portrait of King George I to the school in 1718.

Yale’s endowment was valued at $29.4 billion in 2018 and the university spent $3.9 billion that year on operations. Yale is known for its top-ranked medical, nursing, art, law and management schools, as well as its drama and music programs. Yale currently has about 16,500 students across all schools, drawn from 123 countries, and is ranked No. 3 in national universities by U.S. News & World Report.

1. Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Endowment: $36 billion

Average Annual Undergraduate Tuition and Fees: $50,420

Annual Research Budget: $1.08 billion

Harvard is not only the richest university in the U.S.; it’s the richest in the world, with a total estimated endowment of $36 billion. and an income of $5.2 billion in 2018. Last year, $1.82 billion of Harvard’s operating revenue came from its endowment.

Established in 1638, Harvard was named after its first benefactor, minister John Harvard, who left the newly established school his library and half his estate on his death in 1638. Harvard’s first class had nine students and one master. Today, Harvard has 12-degree granting schools, such as law and medicine, and over 35,000 students. Harvard’s library in the largest academic library in the world and its collective museums hold more than 28 million works of art, artifacts and specimens, all of which contribute to its total endowment. The university has produced 48 Nobel Laureates, 32 heads of state and 48 Pulitzer Prize winners. Harvard is widely considered the best university in the world and is ranked No. 2 in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.