Key facts

Reported value

USD 909.8 million

As of

May 31, 2025

Portfolio

Endowment net assets

Location

Orange, CA

Spending policy

3% on the stated policy base

Data through FY2025

Balance reference

Endowment size and reporting scope

An endowment can contain many individual accounts with different donor purposes. Investing them together changes how assets are managed, while the accounts continue to record each beneficiary's interest. The market value of a pooled vehicle can also include reserves or other long-term funds. An endowment balance, a managed pool and total organizational assets can consequently differ even when all figures are reported accurately. Survey scope and definitions

The official USD 909.811 million figure and the FY2025 survey's USD 929.386 million describe their respective dates and reporting categories. The official balance retains its stated label, endowment net assets. A change in currency, period or included accounts can produce a different total; the figures are presented separately. Official financial scope

Source: NACUBO · Data through FY2025

The FY2025 survey value for Chapman University is USD 929.386 million, compared with USD 810.601 million for FY2024. The USD 118.785 million movement is 14.65% of the earlier balance. It includes changes in investments as well as additions and distributions. NACUBO explicitly distinguishes this change in market value from an investment rate of return. FY2025 respondent values and definitions

The available history begins in FY2016 at USD 301.524 million and ends in FY2025 at USD 929.386 million. The change across those observations is USD 627.862 million. The smallest reported balance in the displayed series is USD 301.524 million in FY2016; the largest is USD 929.386 million in FY2025. These are closing asset values. They do not show how much of a year's movement came from new gifts, spending or investment results. NACUBO historical workbook

Spending policy and payout

For FY2025, Chapman used 3.0% of each account's prior 20-quarter average market value, with the last quarter in that base ending May 31, 2023. The statements report $15.614 million appropriated for expenditure, compared with $13.704 million in FY2024. Spending disclosure

Source: chapman.edu · Data through FY2025

Distribution report

The size of a spending account is separate from the current market value of its underlying endowment. A transfer from the investment pool authorizes support for the account's purpose. A smoothing formula can delay the effect of market gains or losses on that support. Unspent distributions can also remain available for a beneficiary beyond the year of appropriation. Spending measures

Governance and investment office

Chapman's Finance Committee reviews spending policy periodically. The university's endowment accounting includes donor-restricted funds and board-designated endowment. The board-designated portion can be reconsidered by the board, subject to the institution's financial commitments and governing policy. Investment governance

Federal excise tax on investment income

Public Law 119-21 changed Section 4968 for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. Applicable private institutions must have at least 3,000 tuition-paying students in the preceding tax year, with more than half located in the United States, and student-adjusted endowment of at least $500,000. The rates are 1.4% from $500,000 through $750,000 per student, 4% above $750,000 through $2 million, and 8% above $2 million. Enacted law, Section 70415 These rates apply to net investment income, using the law's prior-year asset and student-count definitions.

An institution's tax tier requires its statutory asset base, eligible student count and related-organization treatment. The survey's closing market value does not supply that calculation. No institution-specific rate is assigned without an institutional disclosure. A campus's enrollment in a public fact sheet can differ from the daily-average, full-time-equivalent count required by the law.

FY2025 size-band comparison

The FY2025 survey value of USD 929.386 million places this respondent in the $500M to $1B band. The published band contains 74 respondents and USD 54.8 billion of aggregate assets. Its average five-year annualized net return is 10.7%, and its ten-year average is 7.8%. The size classification follows the survey-year balance even where an official disclosure on this page uses a later year or a different portfolio scope. NCSE size groups NCSE average net returns

Source: NACUBO · Data through FY2025

The peer mix describes average reported exposures within one size band. It does not reveal individual securities or the availability of cash at a particular institution. Respondents can also use different policy benchmarks. NCSE returns are net of external management fees and expenses for periods ending June 30, 2025; those periods and fee labels govern any numerical return comparison on this page. NCSE allocation definitions

Public records and reporting dates

The ProPublica nonprofit API identifies the legal filer as Chapman University, EIN 951643992. Its available filing for the year ended May 31, 2023 reports total filer assets of USD 2,207.208 million, revenue of USD 697.588 million, expenses of USD 650.112 million. These are filer-wide amounts, which can include buildings, operating resources and other assets outside the endowment. The filing period is retained separately from the current investment disclosures. ProPublica structured filing data

Related reading

• CA endowments
• Comparable endowment sizes
• Endowment directory
• Endowments by state
• Endowments by size
• University endowments
• UC Davis Foundation
• University of California Irvine Foundation
• University of California Santa Barbara

Additional institutional disclosure