Endowments at Greater Washington’s colleges and universities have grown considerably in recent years — none more than Bowie State University, Maryland’s oldest historically Black college or university.
That’s according to a recent Business Journals analysis of data from the Department of Education.
Bowie State, led by President Aminta Breaux since mid-2017, grew its endowment from $10.5 million in fiscal 2019 to $41.28 million in fiscal 2022 — a 292.9% increase over that span. Last year, the university reached a $50 million fundraising goal two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule. Some of those gifts went to Bowie State’s endowment.
While Bowie State has grown its endowment considerably, the overall size of that endowment is on the smaller end in Greater Washington — a reflection of the historic underfunding and other challenges facing HBCUs.
Nationally, endowments at U.S. colleges and universities declined 4.5% between 2021 and 2022 — but are up 32% since 2019. While the early pandemic stock market boom produced exceptional results for some universities, it also widened the gap between the very wealthiest schools and all others.
