Financial Overview
Summarized financial information for the year ended June 30, 2025
The University ended fiscal year 2025 with an operating deficit of $113 million on an operating revenue base of $6.7 billion, representing a -1.7% operating margin. Within this total, funds without donor restrictions had a deficit of $212 million, while funds with donor restrictions had a surplus of $99 million, reflecting donor restricted resources received but not yet spent. Overall net assets grew to $68.7 billion, a 6.8% increase from fiscal year 2024.
Read the full FY25 Financial Overview from the Vice President for Finance and the Treasurer
Operating Revenue
Total operating revenue increased by $210 million or 3% to $6.7 billion. Harvard’s diversified, mission-driven activities rely on three main sources of revenue: education or tuition, sponsored research, and philanthropy, both past and present.
Sources of Operating Revenue for Fiscal 2025
Philanthropy: Endowment income made available for operations and Gifts for current use | 46% |
Education: Degree seeking education and Continuing & executive education | 22% |
Research: Federal and Non-Federal sponsored revenue | 15% |
Other | 17% |
Operating Expenses
Total operating expenses increased by $367 million or 6% to $6.8 billion.
Harvard’s spending encompasses three primary categories, related to the faculty, staff and other people who make Harvard’s work come alive; the classrooms, labs and other spaces in which their work is done; and the supplies and services they use to advance the
work. Compensation, or people, expenses — including salaries, wages, and benefits — accounted for over half of the University’s total operating costs in fiscal year 2025, with salaries and wages increasing by 5%, or $127 million, to $2.8 billion.
Operating Expenses for Fiscal 2025
People: Salaries and wages, Benefits | 52% |
Space: Space and Occupancy, Depreciation, Interest | 18% |
Other: Services purchased, Supplies & equipment, other | 30% |
Harvard's Endowment
Harvard’s endowment has existed for nearly four centuries and serves as a crucial resource for current and future generations of Harvard students, faculty, and researchers. Comprising approximately 14,765 individual funds, the endowment is designed to support nearly every facet of the University’s mission. Donors have restricted the earnings on many of these funds for specific purposes – ranging from student financial aid to neighborhood programs, from museum and library preservation to campus activities, from faculty and fellow positions to scientific advancement.
Donor contributions to the endowment have enabled leading financial aid programs, groundbreaking scientific discoveries, and the establishment of hundreds of professorships across a wide range of academic fields. Each year, a portion of the endowment is paid out as an annual distribution to support the University’s operations. The University strives to maximize its responsible draw each year, while balancing both present and future needs. This critical source of funding distributed $2.5 billion in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 – representing 37% of Harvard’s total operating revenue – and is the largest source of revenue supporting the University. In this way, the endowment bridges the gap between revenue from tuition and research grants and the critical costs associated with the University’s teaching and research activities.
While the endowment is a critical source of funding, more than 80% of its market value is legally restricted under the terms of donor agreements and subject to prudent distribution requirements under the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA). These restrictions apply both to purpose, with funds designated for specific programs, departments, or activities, and to time, as many endowment gifts must be held in perpetuity in accordance with donor intent. The remaining 18% of the endowment generally offers more flexibility, although it is mostly restricted at a high level such as to a particular school or unit. Less than 5% of the endowment is fully unrestricted to support programs across the University. These less restricted funds are essential for general mission support and to advance transformative, strategic initiatives.