Key facts

Reported value

USD 1.95 billion

As of

June 30, 2025

Portfolio

Endowment

Investment office

Lehigh University Investment Office

Spending policy

5% on stated policy basis

Management model

In-house Investment Office

Data through FY2025

Balance reference

Endowment size and reporting scope

A managed pool is an investment vehicle with participating accounts. Its market value can include assets whose owner intends to spend them on a different timetable from a perpetual gift. The endowment balance identifies the funds held for endowed purposes; the wider institutional balance sheet also includes buildings, receivables and obligations. Donor restrictions attach to the account and its use of income even when investments are selected together. Accounting scope therefore remains part of the meaning of each reported figure. Financial reporting basis

The latest balance is labelled university endowment net assets and is dated June 30, 2025. The return series identifies the portfolio as Endowment. The historical survey below retains the respondent scope reported to NACUBO. A pooled investment vehicle can include working capital, reserves or assets for associated organizations alongside endowed gifts. Each participating fund owns its own economic interest in that vehicle. The pool's market value, the institution's endowment balance and the investment manager's corporate assets describe different quantities. Official report

Source: NACUBO · Data through FY2025

The survey series begins at USD 1,162.7 million in FY2016 and ends at USD 2,002.5 million in FY2025. Its USD 839.8 million change is measured after gifts, spending and other balance movements. NACUBO historical values FY2025 respondent table

Investment returns

Performance report

Fee basis: Net of all fees and expenses.

The 1-year result is 10.4%, while the 10-year result is 8.6% annually. The trailing periods share the same end date and overlap; their percentages are not added together. A long-term annualized return describes compound growth over the full period. The year-end asset balance also reflects money entering or leaving the portfolio. Return series

Spending policy and payout

Lehigh's policy applies 5% to a three-year moving average market value. Per-unit annual changes are bounded by a 2% decline and a 5% increase. The audit reports an average applied spending rate per share of 4.5% in FY2025 and FY2024. The 5% policy base and the 4.5% applied result describe different measures. Spending disclosure

Source: financeadmin.lehigh.edu · Data through FY2025

The policy formula controls how the operating budget receives support across market cycles. Its averaging base can differ from the latest fiscal-year-end balance. The dollar distribution records support for a stated year, while a budget-support percentage measures the institution's reliance on that support. Distribution basis

The operating budget records the use of endowment support alongside other revenue. The share of a budget supplied by the endowment measures institutional reliance. The spending-policy rate instead measures an appropriation against the institution's stated asset base. The two percentages can move differently when expenses or other revenues change. A reported dollar distribution is useful alongside both, provided that the reporting period and beneficiary scope stay attached to it. Spending and reporting scope

Governance and investment office

The Finance Committee and Investment Subcommittee set allocation policy. The Investment Office implements policy and manages day-to-day endowment activity. The published objective is a long-term real return of 5% annually after inflation. Investment governance

Federal excise tax on investment income

Public Law 119-21 changed IRC 4968 for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. An applicable institution must have at least 3,000 tuition-paying students in the preceding tax year, with more than half located in the United States. Its student-adjusted endowment must be at least $500,000. The rate is 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

The tax applies to net investment income. Student-adjusted endowment uses the prior year's fair value of assets other than those used directly for exempt purposes, with statutory student-count and related-organization rules. Dividing the headline endowment by a fall enrollment number can give a different result. A rate on investment income also differs from a spending-policy percentage applied to average assets.

FY2025 size-band comparison

The FY2025 NACUBO respondent value of USD 2,002.5 million places this reporting entity in the $1B to $5B band. The published group contains 125 respondents. Its average annualized five-year return was 10.8%, its ten-year average was 8.0%, and its average effective spending rate was 4.5%. These are survey averages for FY2025. Respondent counts Average net returns Spending-rate table

Source: NACUBO · Data through FY2025

Source: NACUBO · Data through FY2025

The size band follows the survey's FY2025 respondent balance. It does not change when a newer pool figure covers additional assets. Survey respondent values and managed-pool values retain their separate scopes. Survey allocation definitions

The NCSE allocation groups combine several underlying investment strategies. Alternatives can include private capital, hedge funds and real assets, so matching that broad percentage does not imply matching individual holdings or liquidity. The size-band return is an average of respondent results. It describes a survey group for a common period and does not replace the institution's own investment-policy benchmark. Trailing five- and ten-year returns are annualized compound results, while the one-year return measures the final fiscal year alone. NCSE definitions

Public records and reporting dates

The official investment report supplies the portfolio figures and measurement dates on this page. The institution or related reporting entity also has a public nonprofit filing record. Tax-return assets and expenses cover that legal filer and can be broader than its endowment. Nonprofit filing record

The ProPublica API identifies the legal filer as Lehigh University, EIN 240795445. Its available Form 990 data for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 report total filer assets of USD 3,127.360 million, revenue of USD 695.392 million, expenses of USD 633.294 million. These figures cover the legal filer. Its assets and operating activity can include resources outside the endowment, and this filing period predates the investment figures above. ProPublica structured filing data

Related reading

• Endowment size bands
• Endowments.com
• FamilyOffices.com