The rich universities get rich faster

The higher education wealth gap is growing – not just between those who do or don’t have college degrees but among colleges themselves, writes Melissa Korn for The Wall Street Journal.

The coffers of the nation’s 40 wealthiest universities, including Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Michigan, are filling at a faster rate than those of other universities, thanks to particularly strong investment performances and generous donors, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service.

“It’s really a tale of two college towns, if you will, or cities,” said Karen Kedem, vice-president and senior credit officer at Moody’s. “Looking ahead, the expectation is that this [gap] will only widen.”

The 10 richest institutions held nearly one-third of total cash and investments at four-year universities in fiscal 2014, while the top 40 accounted for two-thirds. Wealth was concentrated among elite universities at similar rates before the financial crisis, but the gap shrank as top universities lost big on more-volatile investments in 2008 and 2009. They have more than recovered since then.
Full report on The Wall Street Journal site