Nearly two years into an expensive, multifront legal fight with the federal government, Harvard University continues to expand its record-breaking wealth.
In financial documents released Thursday, Harvard reported that its endowment, the world’s biggest, had risen to about $68 billion, an increase of about $11 billion from last year’s reported figure. Harvard’s financial managers made a 27 percent return on investments, the school reported. The Harvard Management Company is led by Narv Narvekar, its chief executive.
The university’s endowment is a collection of some 15,000 individual funds, many of which donors have restricted for specific purposes. While a large chunk of the endowment helps support operations, the restrictions make it difficult for Harvard to tap for general purposes when faced with financial troubles, which have buffeted the school during President Trump’s second term.
Harvard won a court decision last year to restore drastic freezes in federal research grants, but the Trump administration has still slowed the spigot: Money from federally sponsored research declined 20 percent in fiscal 2026, the school reported.
A year ago, Harvard reported an operating loss of about $113 million. This year, it reported a drop in expenses, attributed in part to a hiring freeze, attrition and job cuts.
It ended the fiscal year with a modest surplus, though unrestricted money used to support general operations was still in deficit, the school said.
The university has withstood nearly two years of financial and other pressure tactics from the Trump administration, intended to force the university into negotiations on the administration’s priorities. In 2025, the administration dramatically slashed research grants to the university and denied it the ability to host international students. The university blocked those moves in federal court, though appeals are pending.
Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health, hard hit by research grant cuts, has been working to raise money from private foundations and other sources, including industry. Andrea Baccarelli, Chan’s dean, said in a note to his school last summer that Chan was “ramping up targeted outreach to potential corporate partners.”
In a brief, understated message in Thursday’s report, Harvard President Alan Garber acknowledged that Harvard has faced “headwinds,” and said that “we have risen as a community to meet this moment with intensity and resolve.”
“We would like to tell you that the uncertainty of the past two years is behind us,” Harvard’s treasurer, Timothy R. Barakett, and chief financial officer, Ritu Kalra, wrote in the financial report. “It is not.”
They pointed to the federal funding declines, loss of international students and continuing litigation, which has also been very expensive, college leaders have noted.
A number of prominent wealthy schools have not yet released 2026 endowment figures. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported this month that its endowment had risen from $27.4 billion last year to $29.2 billion.
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