The hardworking and growing income provided by the SMU endowment is a powerful force for the University’s success. Unlike income from student tuition and fees or annual gifts, endowment is protected against fluctuating student enrollment and the whims of the economy, offering financial stability and the confidence that the University’s mission of providing a superior educational experience will be sustained far into the future.
Established in July of 1914 with a gift of $111,540 from the General Education Board of the Methodist Church, SMU’s endowment now represents more than $1.4 billion in assets invested in a diversified portfolio designed to ensure current support as well as growth for the future. The portfolio includes traditional and nontraditional investments, an asset allocation mix that provides both stability and strong growth. For fiscal year 2008, its return was 5.8 percent, in a difficult year for many capital markets. The numerous funds comprising the SMU endowment fall into two main categories: those restricted to specific areas and needs, such as scholarships, professorships, academic programs and campus life; and unrestricted endowments that primarily support operating expenses.
A strong working endowment is fundamental to the advancement and success of an institution of higher education. It enables SMU to accomplish its greatest priorities, namely:
Today SMU is ranked 55th among the 62 colleges and universities with endowments of $1 billion or more. A strong endowment allows the University to offset the rising cost of higher education by providing a dependable source of income for student and faculty investment and relieving its dependence on continued tuition increases. Tuition and fees alone provide for only 68 percent of the cost of an SMU education. The balance is provided largely by annual gifts and endowment income. Continuing to build the endowment will increase SMU’s ability to provide a valuable education for its students.
Each endowment fund at SMU has a personal and unique story behind it – a passion, a dream, a sense of gratitude, a desire to give back. Each of the donors has had a vision for the future of SMU. Over the past century their gifts have transformed the University and, through it, the lives and dreams of its students. New gifts of endowment are needed now to continue that transformation as SMU enters its second century of higher education leadership and service.
Giving to the SMU endowment provides the opportunity to change the lives of students and scholars and to create a permanent legacy honoring or memorializing the life and work of an individual or organization. Within the SMU endowment are hundreds of named endowment funds that are “pooled&8221; together for investment purposes but administered individually to ensure that the purposes defined by the donor are accomplished in perpetuity. The SMU Board of Trustees has determined that certain types of endowment purposes have financial levels at which the endowments operate most effectively to enhance the educational experience of our students, and that at these levels the donor will have the opportunity to name the endowment fund. Examples of funding minimums for new named endowments as established by the Board are as follows:
Many gifts to endowments are made in support of athletics, leadership programs, residence halls and other areas related to the quality of SMU's campus experience. Minimums for these gifts will be equivalent to those listed above.
To reach the office of Endowment and Scholarship Giving, call 1-800-766-4371, ext. 4745, or e-mail endowment@smu.edu.
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