Key facts

Reported value

USD 800.3 million

As of

FY2025 survey reporting period

Portfolio

Survey respondent endowment

Location

Pullman, WA

Data through FY2025

Balance reference

Endowment size and reporting scope

A financial report can present both investment assets and endowment net assets. Related receivables, assets held by outside trustees and board-designated funds can affect those totals. The accounting category and valuation date are part of the figure's meaning. New gifts, transfers and authorized support also change the closing balance. A larger year-end balance does not establish the percentage investment return achieved during that year. Survey scope and definitions

Source: NACUBO · Data through FY2025

The FY2025 survey value for Washington State University Foundation is USD 800.282 million, compared with USD 728.826 million for FY2024. The USD 71.456 million movement is 9.80% 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 907.828 million and ends in FY2025 at USD 800.282 million. The change across those observations is USD -107.546 million. The smallest reported balance in the displayed series is USD 728.826 million in FY2024; the largest is USD 1,288.773 million in FY2021. 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

The FY2025 NCSE $500M to $1B group reports an average effective spending rate of 4.3%. That is a survey-group statistic and is not assigned as Washington State University Foundation's policy. An institution's own spending rule can use several prior valuation dates, a prior-year dollar draw or additional adjustments. Its approved appropriation and the cash spent by a department can differ in timing. NCSE spending-rate table

Annual support depends on both spending authority and investment liquidity. A formula determines the permitted draw, while investment redemptions and cash reserves provide the money. Private-fund capital calls and redemption limits affect timing. A closing market value does not measure those near-term demands, and an accounting appropriation does not identify every department's expenditure date. Spending measures

Governance and investment office

The WSU Foundation consolidates assets available for long-term investment in its Endowment Fund, except where legal or donor restrictions require different treatment. Foundation accounts and the public university's own financial statements have separate reporting boundaries. 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.

Section 4968 excludes state colleges and universities described in Section 511(a)(2)(B). Supporting foundations retain their own legal and filing identities, with related-organization rules read alongside the public-university exclusion. A foundation's public endowment value does not, by itself, assign it a private-college tax tier.

FY2025 size-band comparison

The FY2025 survey value of USD 800.282 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

NCSE's allocation categories combine strategies with different liquidity and valuation practices. Its Alternatives group can include private capital, hedge funds and real assets. Matching that broad weight would not establish identical holdings. The displayed mix is a survey average, not this institution's target allocation. Published category weights are shown with an explicit rounding difference so the full bar totals 100%. NCSE allocation definitions

Public records and reporting dates

NACUBO's respondent is Washington State University Foundation. Annual financial statements and any nonprofit return can cover a different legal entity or a wider group of resources. A university, a supporting foundation and an investment pool can each report its own assets. Total organizational assets also include resources outside the endowment, and the tax-return accounting period can differ from the survey's reporting year. Those distinctions govern how public records are compared. Respondent identity

Related reading

• Comparable endowment sizes
• Endowment directory
• Endowments by state
• Endowments by size
• Foundation endowments
• Whitman College
• Loyola Marymount University
• Babson College