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Summer 2003

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One of the primary functions of Villanova’s present capital campaign, Transforming Minds and Hearts: The Campaign for Villanova, is to facilitate the growth of the University’s endowment. Over the course of the past quarter century Villanova, once considered a regional university, has worked with great success to build its endowment to become competitive on a national scale. With that in mind, however, Villanova must continue to blossom financially in order to have the best chance at competing for the nation’s finest students and faculty with such recognized catholic institutions as Boston College, Georgetown University, and Notre Dame University.

One important indicator of Villanova’s budding achievement in the area of endowment growth comes from a set of rankings based on surveys by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, published annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education. In a recent issue of the journal, Villanova rated 195 out of 654 in terms of endowment standing nationally. The good news for Villanovans is that this ranking denotes a 13-place improvement in the standings over the course of just three years, from 1999 to 2002.

But the good news should also be tempered with a word of caution: with the nation facing an uncertain economic picture, philanthropic giving is often one of the first areas of spending to be scaled back. Villanova has not escaped this pattern entirely, but has certainly fared better than most universities nationally. While there was a negative 0.8 percent change in the University’s endowment in 2002, this was appreciably better than the national average which declined at a rate of minus 6 percent. Villanova’s performance in this area ranked 116 out of 654 in the survey, marking a 72-place improvement from 2001. This is significant evidence of the University’s ability to remain on the right track despite a climate of economic indecision, and it indicates a measured degree of fiscal responsibility at a time of generally shrinking expenditures.

The focus on endowment is not an accident, and during the coming months, as Villanova’s current capital campaign emerges from its quiet phase and moves into its public phase, endowment will become an even more critical issue on the University’s agenda. The overall goal is to insure that future generations of Villanovans have the best academic experience possible, and additionally, to continue pushing the boundaries of academic excellence to secure the long-term viability of Villanova as a nationally renowned and elite-level institution.