Re:University of Chicago Graduate Students Vote to Unionize
by closeparen on Friday October 20, 2017 @12:18AM
(#15513520)
Endowments are there to provide "passive income" for the university and not to be spent. One of the main things interest on an endowment funds is financial aid. Endowment size is a pretty decent proxy for how generous a financial aid program is.
Spending down an endowment could provide lots of free tuition... for a few years. Universities (like the Church) think in centuries.
Re:University of Chicago Graduate Students Vote to Unionize
by Fomite on Friday October 20, 2017 @02:31AM
(#15513883)
Pretty much this. Whether or not my alma mater could go to a "need blind" admissions policy was entirely a function of whether or not the endowment was in the right shape.
IIRC they managed it in 2007 and then...in 2008...well, that went away.
It's like a competition between universities to see who can get the biggest war chest. Lacking any market concerns they're just looking for some variable to maximize just to keep themselves occupied. It seems largely orthogonal to any social purpose a university is supposed to have.