The UW Foundation grew by 13 percent between June of 2009 and June of 2010, after falling 23 percent the previous year according to a study done by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Commonfund Institution.
The endowment was valued at $1.55 billion as of June 30, 2010, up from $1.37 billion the year before. The average endowment grew by 8 percent in the year, after falling 23 percent the previous year.
The Foundation's endowment fund ranks 35th in the nation and sixth in the Big Ten.
Harvard has the top rank nationally with an endowment of $27.56 billion, followed by Yale University with $16.65 billion, Princeton University with $14.39 billion, the University of Texas system with $14.05 billion and Stanford University with $13.85 billion.
The University of Michigan takes the top Big Ten rank, with Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota, Ohio State University and Purdue University all having larger endowments than the UW-Foundation.
However, only five schools ranked in the top 35 nationally saw a higher growth rate in their endowment than UW-Madison's 13 percent, with a national average of 11.9 percent growth.
According to the UW Foundation website, endowments are used to help departments hire faculty members, start programs, advance research and support deserving students.
