For Students on Financial Aid: Does the School's Endowment Matter?

Abstract

Many of the nation’s top fifty liberal arts colleges claim that the needs of their students on financial aid are fully met.  For these elite schools, the authors regress net cost to students on the school’s endowment per capita.  The regression results show that only the richest schools can really claim to meet a student’s full demonstrated need.  Surprisingly, among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges, the school’s endowment (per capita) matters.