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Date October 17, 2025
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Brown endowment provides record support for academic priorities, with 11.9% return in 2025

Brown’s investments generated $853 million in gains, and the endowment provided an all-time high of $352 million for financial aid and student support, scientific research and other priorities in Fiscal Year 2025.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The Brown University endowment generated an 11.9% investment return during Brown’s Fiscal Year 2025, the 12-month period that closed on June 30, 2025.

The endowment’s total market value increased from $7.2 billion to $8 billion. That change reflects $853 million in investment gains, $133 million in new endowed gifts, the receipt of $200 million from Brown University Health (managed by Brown’s Investment Office as part of a set of expanded affiliation agreements) and a $352 million contribution to Brown’s operating budget.

The $352 million contribution to the operating budget supported student scholarships, professorships, academic programs, teaching and research, among other strategic priorities. The contribution marked a 25% increase over FY24 and an all-time high; it represents nearly $36,000 per student and 23% of Brown’s total revenue.

Brown’s endowment is a collection of charitable gifts designated by donors to be spent for specific purposes and invested by the University. The funds are invested in a diversified portfolio of assets with the intention that each original gift will grow in size and provide an ongoing income stream to support the specific endowed purpose. 

Among nearly 4,000 individual endowed funds that comprise the Brown endowment are funds that support financial aid to allow students to graduate debt-free; professorships to recruit leading researchers and educators; biomedical laboratories to help develop treatments for diseases ranging from Alzheimer's to ALS to cancer; public health scholarship to address health crises; community engagement initiatives; academic programs to prepare the next generation to address societal challenges; and teaching and research across a wide range of fields.

Each year, the endowment contributes funding to Brown’s operating budget, with the annual payout rate ranging from 4.5% to 5.5% of the average market value. Endowed funds for financial aid are particularly crucial, with the largest share of the endowment’s annual budget contributions (35%) designated for scholarships, fellowships and prizes. Among current Brown undergraduates, 48% of students receive need-based financial aid with an average aid package of $68,458, which covers approximately 71% of the standard cost of attendance.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/w3ChBVmOI0w

Brown Endowment Explainer

 

See how the Brown endowment is managed, how payout decisions are made, and how it supports a wide range of campus priorities.

Data compiled by Cambridge Associates indicates that Brown's 11.9% return for FY25 falls in the first quartile of endowment and foundation peers managing more than $1 billion in investments, a group that includes more than 130 institutions. Longer-term results suggest that Brown's investment outcomes have been exceptional — over five- and 10-year terms, Brown's investment returns fall in the top 5% of peer results, in each case by a significant margin.

Brown Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Jane Dietze said the Investment Office’s charge is to protect and prudently grow the endowment over time, to ensure its role as an enduring financial resource that provides long-term support and advances Brown’s mission. Brown’s investment strategy is therefore designed to achieve strong risk-adjusted returns over decades rather than over the course of any single year.

“The Brown endowment’s ability to contribute to the University’s mission — to serve the community, the nation and the world by discovering, communicating and preserving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry — has expanded over the last 10 years at an unparalleled rate,” Dietze said. “Partnerships with accomplished external investment managers, expert guidance from Brown’s investment committee and support from our dedicated Investment Office team continue to serve as instrumental factors in that success.”

Over the last decade, the endowment has produced $5.6 billion in investment returns and provided $2.3 billion to support Brown’s educational mission. Contributions from the endowment continue to play a vital role in supporting priorities across the University at a time when some historic funding sources for universities remain under threat. 

Annualized returns for Brown’s endowment for three, five, 10 and 20 years are 8.6%, 13% , 11.4% and 9.5%, respectively. 

Despite the expansion of a federal excise tax on university investment gains passed by Congress in July, the per-student value of Brown’s endowment keeps the University in the 1.4% tax bracket. 

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