Liberty’s endowment remains in nation’s Top 100, outpacing Ivy League schools and recording fourth-fastest growth

Liberty University’s investment strategy is helping the university position itself to serve students and alumni for decades to come. A National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) study released last week shows that Liberty’s $1.6 billion endowment portion of its $2 billion in investments puts Liberty in the top 100 of schools with the largest endowments in the United States. The NACUBO report showed that Liberty’s ranking improved from the 74^th largest to the 68^th, jumping up six places in one year.

“Our endowment increased in value by 10.8% in one year — more than triple the 3.4% average change in market value of the other top 10 largest endowment-ranked schools in the country,” said Liberty President Jerry Falwell. “That list includes Stanford, MIT, Notre Dame, University of Michigan, University of Texas, Texas A&M, and the Ivy League’s Penn, Yale, Harvard and Princeton. This means that the national-level acumen of our LU leadership and investment partners is now considered ‘business as usual!’”

Simultaneously, the university continues to invest in students by adding to the campus infrastructure as well as educational and student aid programs. The endowment continues to gain momentum.

“What is interesting is that our specific investment strategy is purposely built with less risk than the portfolio of many other schools,” said Don Moon, Liberty’s senior vice president of finance and investment management. “Even with a lower-risk strategy, we are seeing greater growth than our largest endowed competitors. This serves our stakeholders — our families, our students.”