In fiscal year 2011, Harvard University’s tax-exempt endowment jumped in value by about $4.17 billion, rising from $27,557,404,000 to $31,728,080,000–but that did not stop Harvard from collecting tuition and fees derived from federal grants and student loans that U.S. taxpayers provided to Harvard undergraduates.
Other universities with major endowments–including Yale and Princeton (from which the author of this article graduated)–also saw massive increases in their endowments and they also benefited from their students paying tuition and fees with federal grants and loans.
In the 2009-2010 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education, Harvard undergraduates received $4,093,140 in federal Pell Grants and $1,467,017 in federal student loans.
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