Strong endowments provide long-term financial health to any institution. Endowments allow a donor to create a permanent legacy at AU, providing funding for scholarships, faculty, and programs. This funding may help AU create new opportunities that attract the best students and faculty or provide important underpinning for existing programs.
Regardless of their designated purpose, the combined assets of AU’s endowment are an important measure of overall financial condition and impact things like the University’s rankings and bond ratings.
Well invested, endowments grow significantly over time. According to the most recent survey of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), for the period ending June 30, 2008, AU’s endowment outperformed other institutions in the $100-$500 million asset range with a 10-year average rate of return of 8.0%, and a five year average rate of return of 13.0%.
Decisions about investment and spending from AU’s endowment are made by the Board of Trustees with guiding input from the Finance & Investment Committee of the Board, and in consultation with the University’s investment advisors, Cambridge Associates.
What does this all mean? It means that by establishing a legacy at AU in the form of an endowment, donors and their families can rest assured that their gifts are handled well and responsibly, ensuring long-term growth and lasting support of the purposes at AU about which they care so much.
Scholarships and Fellowships
Scholarships and Fellowships for AU's undergraduate and graduate students are critical to maintaining AU's academic excellence because they remove financial barriers and allow AU to attract and retain the most qualified and diverse student body.
Donors who establish endowments for students unleash the unlimited potential of education, and often establish lifelong relationships with those whose AU experience might not otherwise be possible.
Faculty Endowments
Nothing is more important to the quality of an American University education than its faculty of distinguished scholars and educators, many of whom have earned national and international attention.
