Key facts

Reported value

USD 465.0 million

As of

June 30, 2025

Portfolio

College and museum endowment

Location

Providence, RI

Spending policy

5% on the stated policy base

Management model

Global Endowment Management, outsourced investment office

Data through FY2025

Balance reference

Endowment size and reporting scope

The USD 465.479 million FY2025 figure follows the survey's respondent, Rhode Island School of Design. The legal filer discussed below can have a different accounting perimeter. Endowed accounts may include both donor-restricted resources and amounts designated for long-term use by a governing board. Investing those accounts together does not remove their spending restrictions. The prior-year USD 425.645 million figure supplies a second closing observation, after the effects of annual support and new gifts. Survey scope and definitions

Source: NACUBO · Data through FY2025

The FY2025 survey value for Rhode Island School of Design is USD 465.479 million, compared with USD 425.645 million for FY2024. The USD 39.834 million movement is 9.36% 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 303.436 million and ends in FY2025 at USD 465.479 million. The change across those observations is USD 162.043 million. The smallest reported balance in the displayed series is USD 303.436 million in FY2016; the largest is USD 465.479 million in FY2025. The change in assets includes gifts and distributions as well as investment results. NACUBO historical workbook

Spending policy and payout

The annual distribution is 5% of each fund's trailing 12-quarter average market value, calculated at December 31. RISD reports a $19.9 million draw for the year ended June 30, 2025. Underwater funds require a special exception before spending, and a draw that would take a fund below historical gift value is limited by the stated policy. Spending disclosure

Source: risd.edu · Data through FY2025

Distribution report

Distributions remain subject to each fund's donor restrictions. An appropriation authorizes support for those purposes; a beneficiary can use the cash in a later accounting period. Spending measures

Governance and investment office

RISD selected Global Endowment Management in 2017 as its outsourced chief investment office. GEM selects investments, manages portfolio risk and reports to RISD. It works with university management and the Board of Trustees Investment Subcommittee. The subcommittee sets policy; GEM invests primarily through external managers. 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

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.

The tax applies to net investment income; the statutory asset and student definitions determine applicability and the rate.

FY2025 size-band comparison

The FY2025 survey value of USD 465.479 million places this respondent in the $250M to $500M band. The published band contains 102 respondents and USD 37.1 billion of aggregate assets. Its average five-year annualized net return is 10.0%, and its ten-year average is 7.6%. The size band uses the FY2025 NACUBO balance. 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 Rhode Island School Of Design, EIN 050258956. Its available filing for the year ended June 30, 2023 reports total filer assets of USD 714.113 million, revenue of USD 228.806 million, expenses of USD 220.856 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

• Endowment directory
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• Endowments by size
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