October 25, 1999
Contact: John Scarffe, Endowment Association, (785) 832-7336.
LAWRENCE -- The Kansas University Endowment Association recorded the most support ever for the University of Kansas in fiscal year 1999. This record in direct support of KU was announced Sunday during the 108th annual meeting of the KU Endowment Board of Trustees at the Adams Alumni Center.
During 1999, KU Endowment expenditures for KU students, faculty and programs totaled $54.1 million, an increase of 22 percent over $44.4 million infiscal year 1998 and a 50 percent increase over $36.1 million during 1997.
This support included a record breaking $15.2 million in scholarships, fellowships, awards and prizes, as compared to $13.6 million in 1998, and a total of $2.9 million in loans issued for students.
Total fund raising during 1999 also set a new record, totaling $53.2 million, a 12 percent increase over $47.4 million in 1998.
Alumni and friends of the University of Kansas gave outright contributions totaling $22.2 million. Bequests and life income gifts totaled $15 million, and corporations and foundations contributed $16 million.
Total market value of KU Endowment assets totaled $979 million for fiscal year 1999, an 8 percent increase over $909 million in 1998. Total assets include investment income and property holdings.
Income from asset holdings and investments contributed to the rise in total assets. During 1999, income from asset holdings totaled $53.7 million. During the past five-year period, KU Endowment's long-term investment program earned an annualized rate of 17 percent, thus outperforming its benchmark of spending plus inflation, which equaled 8.5 percent.
Also increasing during the year was the market value of endowed funds, which reached $766.7 million. Endowed funds are those for which the principal is invested and only the income spent. The 1998 market value of endowed funds, totaling $724.7 million, ranked 13th in size among public universities nationally.
Story by Kirsten Bosnak