Le Moyne College’s endowment, an important source of student aid, has almost tripled since 2008.

 

In 2008 it was $46 million and currently in 2017 it is $179 million, said College Communications Director Joe Della Posta.

 

The endowment has increased from 2008 to 2017 due to new donations that went into the endowment fund and the increased market value of our investments over time, according to Della Posta.

 

Della Posta states the endowment fund is important to Le Moyne because it helps offset a portion of the College’s operating budget.

 

Some things are considered more important when Le Moyne contemplates the use of the money, Della Posta explains. The first is student scholarship which helps to keep Le Moyne affordable for current and prospective students. Second would be helping to fund professorships, which helps support our faculty and advance academics and pedagogy at the College.

 

According to Della Posta, for much of the endowment, Le Moyne is required to use these funds for the purpose the donor specified with the majority of the endowments being restricted to student aid and professorships.

 

Della Posta said The College uses approximately 4.5 percent of its endowment each year to help augment the operating budget. In the 2015-16 year, $6.7 million of the endowment was used. $2.2 million of that amount was used for scholarships; the overall student aid budget for 2015-16 was roughly $40 million. More than 95 percent of Le Moyne students receive some form of financial aid.

 

A financial endowment is the fund of all donations the college received. Donations are received in multiple ways. The biggest way is by people donating money to the college. The next way to receive the money is the college investing in the stock market. A less likely way, but still occurs, is receiving money when someone passes away, however, some people when leaving money have certain places they want the money to go to.

 

According to Joe Della Posta, by in large the bulk of the funds for college endowments come from individuals who have donated money to be used by the institution for various purposes. Funds can be restricted (meaning they are specified to be used in a particular way) or unrestricted (meaning they can be used at the discretion of the college for areas of greatest need).

 

If you were to look at the tax sheets Le Moyne makes available for the public, you would see the endowment is lower in 2016 versus in 2015 by $5 million. Della Posta says it was due to a downturn in the overall stock market and other financial institutions, as much of a college’s endowment is tied to these markets.

 

Student Madelyn Cittadino said if it wasn’t for her scholarship she wouldn’t be able to attend Le Moyne. Her mother is a single mom and if it wasn’t for her scholarship, she wouldn’t have the financial support to attend Le Moyne. Madelyn is an honor student and really values her education. Madelyn is grateful for the scholarship she receives because of the endowment fund.