As of late last year, Texas A&M University had an endowment of nearly $13.5 billion, making it one of the wealthiest universities in the world. Their main campus in College Station is one of the largest in the country. The school is a Senior Military College and one of six public universities in the U.S that has a volunteer Corps of Cadets. Texas A&M University consists of 10 colleges and 18 research facilities.
The school has a long list of notable alumni that includes heads of state, university presidents, astronauts, senators, brilliant engineers and more. There have also been nine Nobel laureates to graduate from Texas A&M. They have the largest student body in the state of Texas, and one of the largest in the entire country, boasting nearly 70,000 students this year alone.
University of Notre Dame: $13.1 Billion
Notre Dame, a private Catholic university in Indiana, is perhaps most well-known for its sports teams, the Fighting Irish. Their football notoriety began in the 20th century, thanks to coach Knute Rockne. But their athletics aren’t the only thing that’s appealing about the school, which was established in 1842.
A staff of over 1,300 oversees the student body, which totals about 12,000 annually. They have an incredibly strong network of over 130,000 alumni, some of which include Regis Philbin and astronaut Kevin Ford. Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor, also attended, earning her Master’s in Government and International Studies in 1975. The university has an endowment of just over $13 billion and a budget of nearly $1.3 billion.
University of Pennsylvania: $14.7 Billion
The University of Pennsylvania was first founded as a charity school in 1740. But thanks to the efforts of one of America’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, along with some other key players in Philadelphia, it was transformed into an academy in 1751. Franklin acted as president of the first board of trustees for the school.
The Wall Street Journal ranked the University of Pennsylvania as the 4th best overall university in the United States. There are reportedly over 60 billionaire alumni, 14 heads of state, 33 U.S Senators, 159 members of the House of Representatives, 3 supreme court justices. Not to mention, they boast 8 graduates who signed the Declaration of Independence and 12 who signed the U.S Constitution. This year, the school has reached an endowment of over $14.5 billion.
University of Michigan: $11.9 Billion
The University of Michigan saw a half a billion increase in its endowment over this past year, bringing it close to $12 billion at the close of 2019. The school is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Among people to come from this midwestern school’s alumni list are 25 Nobel Prize winners, pop queen Madonna and former U.S president, Gerald Ford. The university enjoys an annual budget of nearly $9 billion. They have a fairly large student body and staff, with over 40,000 students and a staff of over 20,000 to help manage everything.
Columbia University: $10.87 Billion
This private Ivy League school was founded in Manhattan in 1754. It is the single oldest higher-education facility in New York and the fifth in the country. The school is one of the top three in the country and known for being hard to get into, with an acceptance rate of just over 5%.
The institute, which has an endowment of around $10.87 billion, has an impressive list of alumni, both living and deceased. Among them are five of the nation’s Founding Fathers, as well as 53 billionaires and three former presidents.