The University of Arizona is now among the 6% of public four-year universities with an endowment topping $1 billion.
Despite the chaotic national economic picture of the ongoing pandemic, Arizona’s flagship university brought in a record $345.2 million worth of gifts and commitments (compared to the previous record set in 2019 of $334.6 million) and $68.3 million in cash donations to endowed funds during the 2020-21 academic year.
And with a 30.5% return on investment of those funds, the UA reported Tuesday that its endowment sits at approximately $1.2 billion — the first time in the school’s 136-year history the endowment has ever surpassed the $1 billion mark.
The UA isn’t alone in riding this wave.
Arizona State University in Tempe also surpassed the $1 billion threshold for the first time earlier this year.
And it’s not just an Arizona thing, either.
Bloomberg recently reported that amid a boom in the U.S. stock market, colleges and universities all over the country are reporting endowment performance in fiscal year 2021 (which ended June 30) that hasn’t been this strong since 1986. The median return before fees was 27% this past year, compared to 2.6% in fiscal year 2020. For schools with an endowment greater than $500 million, which included both the UA and ASU this time last year, the median return was closer to 34%.
The UA’s endowment is overseen by the nonprofit University of Arizona Foundation and its board of trustees. That board includes an investment committee which works with Fund Evaluation Group to manage endowed donations.
“In addition to the generosity of our supporters, I’d like to celebrate the hard and diligent work of our investment committee and FEG,” John-Paul Roczniak, president and CEO of the UA Foundation, said in a news release. “We could not have achieved a $1 billion endowment without their sustained, dedicated efforts over many years.”
Nearly every college or university has an endowment, which is a portfolio of many individual private donations that provide institutions with a secure funding source. At the UA that money goes toward supporting a variety of needs like scholarships, student programs, research, the arts, faculty and facilities.
As of this school year, the UA has achieved its longstanding goal of exceeding $1 billion. It now joins a much smaller list of about 100 universities, which includes the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia, with endowments exceeding $1 billion.
Donors to the UA made more than 40,000 individual contributions. Some were as small as $10 and others were more than $1 million. Some of the biggest donations this year have been earmarked to help the UA advance achievement in health care and the arts.
Jacquelynn and Bennett Dorrance, who both graduated from the UA in 1969, committed $5.4 million to endow the deanship of the College of Humanities “in support of efforts to integrate traditional and cutting-edge approaches into humanities teaching and learning.”
Ginny L. Clements, a longtime donor to UA and breast cancer survivor, committed $8.5 million to the University of Arizona Cancer Center to establish the Ginny L. Clements Breast Cancer Research Institute. According to the news release, Clements’ donation will fund an endowment for the institute, an endowed director’s chair, two professorships, startup packages for those professors and lab renovations.
Additionally, Walter and Irene Sivek bequeathed a $9.8 million estate gift to be divided evenly among the cancer center, the University of Arizona Arthritis Center, Sarver Heart Center and the School of Theatre, Film and Television.
“The university’s biggest champions have been with us throughout the pandemic, and their historic generosity is profoundly improving our performance and accessibility during this time of recovery,” UA President Robert Robbins said. “These results demonstrate how our supporters are more than donors — they are part of the Wildcat community and live our core values of compassion and determination.”
