The 20 wealthiest private universities and colleges in America

In addition to being world-class research and educational institutions, America's top private universities are also fantastically wealthy.

The Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System assembles statistics on thousands of institutions of higher learning in the US. One of the data points published is the value of assets in private university endowments.

As described by Investopedia , endowments are made up of "money or other financial assets that are donated to universities or colleges" that is then invested in order to build up long-term financial reserves and fund ongoing scholarships, research, and other activities.

As the Investopedia article notes, even though many university endowments are under strict guidelines on what percentage of the funds can be spent in any year, some of the wealthier schools have such highly valued endowments that a small share "can equal a large sum of money."

Even with supplemental funding from their massive endowments, sticker-price tuition at many elite colleges and universities remains very high and continues to grow. Despite rising costs, however, a recent New York Fed study pointed out that, on average, a college degree is still a solid investment with a good average long-run rate of return.

Here are the 20 private nonprofit universities and colleges with the biggest endowments, as measured by total value of assets at the start of the 2017 fiscal year, the most recent period for which data is available, along with their location and the year they were founded, according to the schools' websites:

20. Johns Hopkins Universitys endowment had assets worth about $3.3 billion.

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Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Year established : 1876

19. New York Universitys endowment had assets worth about $3.6 billion.

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Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Location: New York City, New York

Year established : 1831

18. Vanderbilt Universitys endowment had assets worth about $3.8 billion.

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Vanderbilt University/Facebook

Location: Nashville, Tennessee

Year established : 1873

17. Dartmouth Colleges endowment had assets worth about $4.5 billion.

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Jeffrey Bary/Flickr

Location: Hanover, New Hampshire

Year established : 1769

16. Cornell Universitys endowment had assets worth about $4.5 billion.

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Location: Ithaca, New York

Year established : 1865

15. The University of Southern Californias endowment had assets worth about $4.6 billion.

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AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Location: Los Angeles, California

Year established : 1880

14. Rice Universitys endowment had assets worth about $5.4 billion.

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Rice University/Facebook

Location: Houston, Texas

Year established : 1912

13. The University of Chicagos endowment had assets worth about $6.1 billion.

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Facebook/University of Chicago

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Year established : 1890

12. Washington Universitys endowment had assets worth about $6.5 billion.

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WashULaw/Twitter

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Year established : 1853

11. Duke Universitys endowment had assets worth about $6.8 billion.

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Duke University/Facebook

Location: Durham, North Carolina

Year established : 1838

10. Emory Universitys endowment had assets worth about $6.9 billion.

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Facebook/Emory University

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Year established : 1836

9. Northwestern Universitys endowment had assets worth about $7.5 billion.

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Northwestern University/Facebook

Location: Evanston, Illinois

Year established : 1850

8. Notre Dames endowment had assets worth about $8.7 billion.

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Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock

Location: Notre Dame, Indiana

Year established : 1842

7. Columbia Universitys endowment had assets worth about $9.0 billion.

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Location: New York City, New York

Year established : 1754

6. The University of Pennsylvanias endowment had assets worth about $10.7 billion.

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f11photo/Shutterstock

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Year established : 1740

5. The Massachusetts Institute of Technologys endowment had assets worth about $13.2 billion.

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Marcio Jose Bastos Silva / Shutterstock.com

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Year established : 1861

4. Princeton Universitys endowment had assets worth about $21.7 billion.

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Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Location: Princeton, New Jersey

Year established : 1746

3. Stanford Universitys endowment had assets worth about $22.4 billion.

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Associated Press

Location: Stanford, California

Year established : 1885

2. Yale Universitys endowment had assets worth about $25.4 billion.

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Reuters

Location: New Haven, Connecticut

Year established : 1701

1. Harvard Universitys endowment had assets worth about $35.7 billion.

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Year established : 1636

The 20 wealthiest private universities and colleges in America

20. Johns Hopkins Universitys endowment had assets worth about $3.3 billion.

19. New York Universitys endowment had assets worth about $3.6 billion.

18. Vanderbilt Universitys endowment had assets worth about $3.8 billion.

17. Dartmouth Colleges endowment had assets worth about $4.5 billion.

16. Cornell Universitys endowment had assets worth about $4.5 billion.

15. The University of Southern Californias endowment had assets worth about $4.6 billion.

14. Rice Universitys endowment had assets worth about $5.4 billion.

13. The University of Chicagos endowment had assets worth about $6.1 billion.

12. Washington Universitys endowment had assets worth about $6.5 billion.

11. Duke Universitys endowment had assets worth about $6.8 billion.

10. Emory Universitys endowment had assets worth about $6.9 billion.

9. Northwestern Universitys endowment had assets worth about $7.5 billion.

8. Notre Dames endowment had assets worth about $8.7 billion.

7. Columbia Universitys endowment had assets worth about $9.0 billion.

6. The University of Pennsylvanias endowment had assets worth about $10.7 billion.

5. The Massachusetts Institute of Technologys endowment had assets worth about $13.2 billion.

4. Princeton Universitys endowment had assets worth about $21.7 billion.

3. Stanford Universitys endowment had assets worth about $22.4 billion.

2. Yale Universitys endowment had assets worth about $25.4 billion.

1. Harvard Universitys endowment had assets worth about $35.7 billion.

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