At 4% annual growth, the 34 billion nets one billion, three hundred sixty million dollars. At that rate, they should be able to fund the school on a tuition-free basis.
Tenured professors don't come cheap.
Also neither do million dollar a year plus university presidents.
The several hundred million range is just keeping everything up and running. When you add in research and grants and stuff like that... They figure out a way to spend it.
A college football team is a hundred mil a year....
These guys at these schools also must contend that their endowments shrink too. You didn't read about that press release.
Sometimes they drop... like half.
I can tell you a lot about how these monies are managed and why it is the way it is.
They are not hurting for cash though...
Also you must realize that a substantial portion of their endowments are tied up into long term investments that are not always easily liquidated.
Like I said I can tell you a lot about how things work...