I wonder which Phil school has the largest endowment

[JeoffDomingo]

Would you know?



Students in foreign universities measure prestige based on the amount of endowment. Both Oxford and Cambridge universities in England lost their glory to Harvard solely on the bases of their dismal endowment fund.

This kind of income generating scheme for research-led universities is kind of new in the Philippines. AFAIK, UP was the first university to have implemented this scheme but it wasn't that long ago either. I think UP started it during the last quarter of President Nemenso's administration and was carried out up to now by his successor, President Roman.

I came across a site where it says: UP has only over a hundred million pesos endowment fund. But that figure was taken from last year's, so that’s more likely NOT the same figure today. I cannot find another site which contains the same material. So if you know something about this that I don't, please share it here. I'm particularly interested to know how much does La Salle have, and perhaps for the rest also. Thank you.

[KuyaDanny]

I don't know how large the DLSU endowment is but I would not be surprised if it is the largest in the country.

[KuyaDanny]

AFAIK, UP was the first university to have implemented this scheme but it wasn't that long ago either. I think UP started it during the last quarter of President Nemenso's administration and was carried out up to now by his successor, President Roman.


Universities in this country have had endowments long before President Nemenzo was in office. The most obvious beneficiaries of those endowments are students who receive scholarships.

What universities will need to do in the future, I think, is to step up fund raising to enlarge their endowments even more. Income from endowments will need to support an increasing share of operating expenses, so that tuition increases can be moderated.

Otherwise higher education will be put further out of reach, and we might end up with a situation like this:


Most college graduates in debt (http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/31/student.loans.ap/index.html)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly two of every three undergraduate students are going into debt to go to college, owing an average of more than $19,000, most often to the government.

Among a dozen states sampled, New York students averaged the largest loans, while those in Oregon and Minnesota were most likely to have borrowed.

About 65 percent of students who graduated in the 2003-2004 school year did so after getting student loans, according to the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.

For students who took out loans, the average debt was $19,202. Of that sum, $17,022 came through federal loan programs.

[Dennis21]

What is endowment and how does it affect the prestige of the school?

[KuyaDanny]

Endowment is basically money which is invested so that the earnings can be used to support the school's requirements, such as paying for teachers, buying lab equipment, and settling the (usually large) electricity bills.

A good part of most endowments is raised through donations.

When a school has money to spend, it has the ability to hire good professors, embark on significant research projects, improve its facilities, and attract outstanding students. All of these factors can affect prestige, but the money has to be used wisely.

[Dennis21]

Thanks, KuyaDanny. But who decides on what and where this money be invested? IN UP's case for example, where do they invest there money? This whole thing is kinda new to me. What about private schools like FEU and UE, do they have endowment as well? Or in other words, is endowment different from budget allocation?

[KuyaDanny]

Depends on who donated. If I gave a school, say, P2.0 million to endow a teaching chair, I could specify that only the earnings can be used to compensate the beneficiary. I can even specify other conditions such as the beneficiary has to be a professor teaching at least 6 units of introductory economics per year. My donation would be part of restricted funds, and the school usually will honor my wishes and apply it for the purpose.

Sometimes the donors just give money for the school to "use as it sees fit." In such a case, these are unrestricted funds and the uses are determined by the school's governing body (regents, trustees, or directors) with a recommendation from the administration.

I do not know how UP spends their endowment earnings. There should be a way for UP-interested parties to find out. Private schools can and do have endowments. Harvard, a private school, has the largest endowment in the world ($26 billion). FEU and UE are a little different as they are closely-held corporations run for profit. They could have endowments, but probably have little need for them. If the school needs money and there are no other sources available, the owners will simply whip out their checkbooks.

Re: budget allocation - you are probably referring to the allocation of government funds to support our public universities. If so, this is a different source of funds from endowment earnings. Usually the sum of tuition fees + other fees + grants + endowment income + miscellaneous income + budget allocation will add up to all funds available for use by a state university in a given year.

[KuyaDanny]

If you run the numbers on Harvard, you can make some interesting conclusions. Assuming the $26 Billion endowment could earn 5% yearly, that means its endowment income would be $1.3 Billion a year. According to one source, the university has about 19,500 students. So 1,300,000,000 / 19,500 = $66,667 per student per year. In other words, Harvard can afford to teach all its students without making them pay any tuition. :)

[KuyaDanny]

Compare that to the job of the president of a state university, who every year has to face the legislature and ask for money.

[flsfnoeraekadad]

Compare that to the job of the president of a state university, who every year has to face the legislature and ask for money.
A daunting task to do in Philippine legislature. :hmm:

[atenean_blooded]

Interesting subject.

To add to what KuyaDanny said, endowments can also be invested for them to earn. Most of the top schools abroad (and I'm sure something similar is done here) have special fund managers who invest the endowment and the rest of the school's portfolio, in order to help the endowment grow. I think that as of this year, Yale registered the largest endowment growth through successful investment.

Also, as KuyaDanny said, the endowments are sometimes used to help students cope with the expenses of higher education. Harvard, for example, can afford several years of not receiving tuition payment from a substantial number of its students. This means that schools now have the option of giving special financial breaks to very deserving students, meaning the option of going to the good schools no longer depends on one's ability to pay. That's one thing that helps the prestige.

I wouldn't be surprised that aside from UP's several billion pesos in allocated funds from the national budget, the Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle University, and the University of Santo Tomas are among the wealthiest schools. One can consider, for example, the real estate value of the Ateneo de Manila's Loyola Heights, Rockwell, and Salcedo campuses (with the buildings and other facilities). From what I've read, the DLSU System has around Php 8 billion in assets, a susbtantial chunk of which is probably from endowments, and a substantial chunk of which is concentrated in DLSU-Manila alone.

Maybe this will help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_endowment

[LeoNell_Mercado]

Interesting subject.


Maybe this will help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_endowment
Ceasefire muna ang away sa thread na ito.




According to your reference: the principal should remain intact...
Don't you think that would be a problem? What will happen if something goes wrong with the investment, especially that the Philippines does not always have a conditioned business climate?

[GR8_GUY]

I'm speaking for nonprofit organizations in the USA. In response to your question: The State Attorney General (State where the certificate of incorporation is filed) will investigage the Board of Trustees for any breach of their fiduciary duties to the organization and the public it serves.

The law strictly imposes on all board members the same responsibilities: to insure that (1) the missions and purposes of not-for-profit organization are carried out and (2) none of its assets are wasted or diverted for private benefit. A failure to meet these obligations can result in financial or other liability for a board member.

One of the fiduciary duties of the Board is spelled out in "Guardianship of Asset". Board members are responsible for overseeing the assets of the orgnaization and insure that they are spent only to promote the corporate mission. In order to insure that the assets are properly managed the board should, often with professional guidance do the following:
1. Have an annual budget
2. Review internal fininacnial controls and financial statements with independent auditors.
3. Ensure that restricted gifts are used only for the purposes which they are donated.
4. Require and review financial reports from the officer and/or staff charged with the daily operations of the organization.
5. Seek legal and financial advice whenever in doubt or feel uneasy.
6. Secure fidelity insurance against emblezzlement.

These are basic requirements but others set up more elaborate guidelines to protect the assets of the organization.

This is in response to Mr Mercado's query of what happens if the investment loses its principal.

[GR8_GUY]

Interesting subject.
Also, as KuyaDanny said, the endowments are sometimes used to help students cope with the expenses of higher education. Harvard, for example, can afford several years of not receiving tuition payment from a substantial number of its students. This means that schools now have the option of giving special financial breaks to very deserving students, meaning the option of going to the good schools no longer depends on one's ability to pay. That's one thing that helps the prestige.

Even more interesting is the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative (HFAI) which aims to reduce economic barriers to attending Harvard by significantly expanding financial aid benefits to low and moderate income families. They are chosen on the basis of their outstanding academics, extracurricular, and personal qualities, with the hope that they will bring to Harvard the widest possible diversity of life experiences and intellectual perspectives.

It used to be annual income less than $43,000 but beginning in 2006, parents in families with annual income of less than $60,000 will no longer be expected to contribute to the cost of attending Harvard for their children including room and board. In addition Harvard will reduce the contributions expected of families with annual incomes between $60,000 and $80,000.

[jeffrey21]

i think lasalle has the largest, or among the largest receiver of endowment... sa mga professional chair, almost every full-time professor me mga professional chair na nakadikit sa name nila...sa lasalle manila alone lang yon...iba pa ang nasa system schools...bale kung taga-lasale ka, makikita mo naman sa 4th floor ng library un mga pic ng prof na merong endowment...kaya nagkalat ang research paper nila dahil required clang gumawa dahil sa professional chair title...then, last summer nagevluate kami ng income statement ng LSGH, at me 20 million donation clang natanggap last 2003 or 2002...then, iba pa ang mga building named after the alumni..laking donation din non, at syempre ang tulong sa green archers...check mo sa SEC kung anu ang total endowment ng lasalle...cyempre, malaki rin ang sa ateneo, ipangalan ba naman ka gokongwei ang business school nila...un sa feu at ue, for-profit-organization sila kaya lesser ang endowment, mas malalaki ang endowment kapag non-for-profit organization...gaya ng mga catholic school at mga foundation school...

[jeffrey21]

sa US nga *** mas maraming nagdodonate sa mga school dahil alumni *** ng school at ang company na magbibigay ng endowment ay me discount sa taxes...at eneencourage ng federal government ang pag-eendow ng pera specially kapag bigtime research ang gagawin..meron pa ngang tie-up ang federal gov sa mga top research university para sa mga nucleur at iba pang research kung san magbibigay din ng budget ang US gov para sa mga skul...eh sa pinas, maraming process b4 makapagdonate ng pera...

[GR8_GUY]

Which Philippines school has the largest endowment? THE Yalevard of the Philippines-- 40 billion US dollars that is almost the combined endowment of Harvard and Yale. It's offering free tuition and board to deserving bright and talented Filipino students whose annual family income is less than PhP 3,120,000. Eat your heart out UP, DLSU, AdMU. They ain't calling it Yalevard for nothin!

[flsfnoeraekadad]

Which Philippines school has the largest endowment? THE Yalevard of the Philippines-- 40 billion US dollars that is almost the combined endowment of Harvard and Yale. It's offering free tuition and board to deserving bright and talented Filipino students whose annual family income is less than PhP 3,120,000. Eat your heart out UP, DLSU, AdMU. They ain't calling it Yalevard for nothin!
Are you serious or are you nuts? :lol:

[mac_bolan00]

an alternative would be to go public.

[atenean_blooded]

Siguro bilyon-bilyong dolyar din ang endowment ng Harvardian School of Laguna, sa Sta. Rosa.

[GR8_GUY]

an alternative would be to go public.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: You get an A+ for witty double entendre. I'll go for IPO and earn big bucks. Nah! On second thought I'll go UP. Whichever of the two is risque I'll shy away from it?

[GR8_GUY]

Are you serious or are you nuts? :lol:
A little bit of both. :lol:

[JeoffDomingo]

basing on some people's comments here, it appeared that endowment is not really new in the Philippines. but my question still stand: how much has each of our prestigious uni have?

[ubermensch]

Which Philippines school has the largest endowment? THE Yalevard of the Philippines-- 40 billion US dollars that is almost the combined endowment of Harvard and Yale. It's offering free tuition and board to deserving bright and talented Filipino students whose annual family income is less than PhP 3,120,000. Eat your heart out UP, DLSU, AdMU. They ain't calling it Yalevard for nothin!

Hello. Just wanted to ask where this Yalevard is. Thanks. Just curious.

[GR8_GUY]

Siguro bilyon-bilyong dolyar din ang endowment ng Harvardian School of Laguna, sa Sta. Rosa.

A_b, you're pulling my legs. Talaga bang mayroong school sa Pinas na ganoon and pangalan? It's name sounds too pretentious to be true and taken seriously? If it really does exist, my apology to the guys from Sta Rosa. Yalevard was never intended to obliquely refer to your school.

[YFU'ER]

Compare that to the job of the president of a state university, who every year has to face the legislature and ask for money.


Who needs taxpayers money when B schools like Michigan can count on donors like Kuya Danny! Barya lang. :naughty:

Some tidbits.

Pinoy taipans are not limiting their donations to Pinoy schools. A well known taipan has received an honorarium from a west coast Jesuit institution thanks to his endownment on Asian studies.

Want to join your schools hall of fame alumni group? It can be had for a $2 million dollar donation.

The Kellogg family donated less than $30 million to Northwestern to name their B school for one of the founding brothers of the cereal company. Poor Eric Gleicher of M&A fame only receive a name plate at the new B school downtown campus of Chicago.

The big advantage for Americans opening their wallets to their alma mater is the tax consequences. Donations to any nonprofit organizations including universities is tax deductible against the donors yearly income tax up to a certain point. Rather than pay uncle Sam, rich alumni would donate it to their favorite schools and curry favors from the school. The Dean Dome in UNC sold permanent seats for a nice donations from regular basketball junkies plus the annual cost of game tickets. How many UAAP schools can match that fund raising scheme? Outside of Danding, Ricky Razon, and MVP not to many.

[GR8_GUY]

basing on some people's comments here, it appeared that endowment is not really new in the Philippines. but my question still stand: how much has each of our prestigious uni have?

I googled for school endowment in the Philippines but nothing came up. We probably won't get any accurate information about endowments among the Philippines top schools. I don't think the country has strict enforcement of laws governing nonprofit organizations as they have in other countries like the mandatory externally audited annual financial statements that are made available upon request to the public they serve. Filipinos and Filipino organizations are not known for their transparency which together with tax breaks encourage alumni and citizens in other countries to open their checkbooks.

[KuyaDanny]

Who needs taxpayers money when B schools like Michigan can count on donors like Kuya Danny! Barya lang. :naughty:


Wehehehe. Barya lang talaga ang kaya kong i-donate sa Michigan, tsong. Naunahan ako ni Stephen Ross. $100 million lang naman ang binigay niya kaya ayun, Ross School na ngayon ang tawag.

Now that you mention Michigan and taxpayers money, it might be interesting to note that for the current budget year, only 7% of the University of Michigan's operating budget is funded by the taxpayers of the state of Michigan. That share is steadily decreasing. Soon, the university may no longer have the right to call itself a state university. :lol:

[KuyaDanny]

Talaga bang mayroong school sa Pinas na ganoon and pangalan?

It really is in Sta Rosa. Pink is the predominant color of their buildings.

Click the link to see a picture of one of the buildings (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooks-bilson/47687035/in/set-1032237/).

[jeffrey21]

A_b, you're pulling my legs. Talaga bang mayroong school sa Pinas na ganoon and pangalan? It's name sounds too pretentious to be true and taken seriously? If it really does exist, my apology to the guys from Sta Rosa. Yalevard was never intended to obliquely refer to your school.

me harvardian college sa san fernando, pampanga...hahaha..:)

[GR8_GUY]

It really is in Sta Rosa. Pink is the predominant color of their buildings.

Click the link to see a picture of one of the buildings (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooks-bilson/47687035/in/set-1032237/).

Oops, mayroon nga talaga. Thanks for the pix Kuya Danny-- pretty-in-pink nga. Absolutely! ;)

[GR8_GUY]

Hello. Just wanted to ask where this Yalevard is. Thanks. Just curious.

It exists in the imagination. Yalevard of the Philippines is coined by overly eager PEXers who come, so they say, from a particular school and lay claim to a delusion that their school is a hybrid of the best of Harvard and Yale. My original post was a tongue-in-cheek thumbing one's nose at the trolls' Yalevard.
Are you by any chance from Purdue U in West Lafayette, Indiana?

[GR8_GUY]

me harvardian college sa san fernando, pampanga...hahaha..:)

The school's name alone is a tough act to follow. :lol:

[atenean_blooded]

It really is in Sta Rosa. Pink is the predominant color of their buildings.

Click the link to see a picture of one of the buildings (http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooks-bilson/47687035/in/set-1032237/).

Harvard School of Laguna pala. Hindi Harvardian.

Pink? Hindi pa kasi heavy enough to be Crimson. :p

[flsfnoeraekadad]

Does Harvard now subsidize education internationally? :confused:

[nickng]

I googled for school endowment in the Philippines but nothing came up. We probably won't get any accurate information about endowments among the Philippines top schools. I don't think the country has strict enforcement of laws governing nonprofit organizations as they have in other countries like the mandatory externally audited annual financial statements that are made available upon request to the public they serve. Filipinos and Filipino organizations are not known for their transparency which together with tax breaks encourage alumni and citizens in other countries to open their checkbooks.

Speaking for UP, I think that tracking endowment sizes is even harder given how decentralized everything is. For one I know my college had its own foundation which serves as the unofficial(?) endowment for the School. I'm pretty sure the other rich colleges in Diliman also have their own funds. On top of that there's the UP Modernization Fund which is system-wide, and I can see the problem with tracking the size of the endowment.

Of course, since it's UP, I'm pretty sure the endowment(s) aren't that big anyway. :lol: Dukha lang kami.

[trauma]

Now that you mention Michigan and taxpayers money, it might be interesting to note that for the current budget year, only 7% of the University of Michigan's operating budget is funded by the taxpayers of the state of Michigan
A lot of the flagship state universities like Michigan and Virginia are public in names only. Most of them operate like privates due to big endowments
Does Harvard now subsidize education internationally?
Unfortunately, top tier schools like Harvard are not really need-blind when it comes to international students. However, some other colleges like the liberal arts colleges or other not so competitive privates can sometimes help internationals.
It's really difficult to verify endowments in private school (lack of transparency).

In another matter, Porn stars have big endowments:lol:

[GR8_GUY]

In another matter, Porn stars have big endowments:lol:

And they are well endowed in all the right places! :lol:

[GR8_GUY]

Of course, since it's UP, I'm pretty sure the endowment(s) aren't that big anyway. :lol: Dukha lang kami.

Right on, brother! ;) There are not a few children of affluent and prominent families who have had their education at UP.

UP has to tap on their graduates in raising money for endowment. Say for instance if it can get 1,000 (a low estimate) of their doctors practicing in the US to donate $1,000 each year for the next 5 years it will have $5 million in 5 years. Transparency, tax incentives and spelling out the needs are the key to successful fund raising.

[nickng]

Right on, brother! ;) There are not a few children of affluent and prominent families who have had their education at UP.

UP has to tap on their graduates in raising money for endowment. Say for instance if it can get 1,000 (a low estimate) of their doctors practicing in the US to donate $1,000 each year for the next 5 years it will have $5 million in 5 years. Transparency, tax incentives and spelling out the needs are the key to successful fund raising.
Okay the dukha comment was just a joke, most people know the statistics identifying UP as a solidly middle-class university. And while I agree with the part about transparency, incentives and needs, UP faces a much more fundamental problem.

Simply put, our alumni relations are CRAP. There's no centralized database of alumni - it's all farmed out to individual colleges. Meanwhile even our alumni association is politicized (wasn't there some kind of electoral dispute there just a few years ago). That's why in terms of meeting the University's needs as a whole, we are truly behind - which makes it hard to fulfill any kind of unified vision for the system.

The effects of this are pretty evident - colleges teaching core classes like CSSP, CAL, and Math aren't as well-funded as they should be because their alumni pool isn't as well-off/many as the higher-profile colleges. That's why we do have a problem of declining standards in these liberal arts/GE classes because not enough money is being put into them.

[GR8_GUY]

^^^I agree. UP has to have a centralized database of all alumni and encourage donors to give portions to unrestricted funds which can be channelled to the low-profile but all too important core colleges.

[ubermensch]

It exists in the imagination. Yalevard of the Philippines is coined by overly eager PEXers who come, so they say, from a particular school and lay claim to a delusion that their school is a hybrid of the best of Harvard and Yale. My original post was a tongue-in-cheek thumbing one's nose at the trolls' Yalevard.
Are you by any chance from Purdue U in West Lafayette, Indiana?

Oh, okay haha. I was ready to be surprised. Pero nung Harvardian, alam kong nag-e-exist siya dati pa.

And yes bro, I'm a Purdue student. Hinulaan mo lang ba?

[JeoffDomingo]

Wehehehe. Barya lang talaga ang kaya kong i-donate sa Michigan, tsong. Naunahan ako ni Stephen Ross. $100 million lang naman ang binigay niya kaya ayun, Ross School na ngayon ang tawag.

Now that you mention Michigan and taxpayers money, it might be interesting to note that for the current budget year, only 7% of the University of Michigan's operating budget is funded by the taxpayers of the state of Michigan. That share is steadily decreasing. Soon, the university may no longer have the right to call itself a state university. :lol:

You should be REALLY proud for what he has done to Michigan. After the business school was changed to honor his name, it has dramatically climbed in the ranking games. Ross is now one of the most selective b-schools to get into. (average GMAT has climed to 700 level!!!) The $100 million endowment to Michigan was the largest ever in the entire history.

[JeoffDomingo]

Right on, brother! ;) There are not a few children of affluent and prominent families who have had their education at UP.

UP has to tap on their graduates in raising money for endowment. Say for instance if it can get 1,000 (a low estimate) of their doctors practicing in the US to donate $1,000 each year for the next 5 years it will have $5 million in 5 years. Transparency, tax incentives and spelling out the needs are the key to successful fund raising.


According to the UP Alumni Report, the UPAA Berkeley Chapter alone has generated a total of $300,000.00 last year. I wonder how much it is now. Then there are several strong alumni chapters in the US. The ones in L.A., Chicago, New York and Boston are the most dynamic in terms of fundraising campaigns. Unfortunately, we do not have a way to access the accounting of their donations. tsk-tsk

[JeoffDomingo]

For those who care :

http://www.upcarillon.org/about_project.html

[GR8_GUY]

Oh, okay haha. I was ready to be surprised. Pero nung Harvardian, alam kong nag-e-exist siya dati pa.

And yes bro, I'm a Purdue student. Hinulaan mo lang ba?

I'd like to think it was an educated guess. I made the connection of your location, West Lafayette. When you're a fan of the Big 10 sport teams, West Lafayette can only mean Purdue and the Boilermakers. In a sense, nahulaan ko.

[KuyaDanny]

You should be REALLY proud for what he has done to Michigan. After the business school was changed to honor his name, it has dramatically climbed in the ranking games. Ross is now one of the most selective b-schools to get into. (average GMAT has climed to 700 level!!!) The $100 million endowment to Michigan was the largest ever in the entire history.

Of course. If I were working to raise funds for for the school and someone offered to donate that kind of money, I would accept it in an instant.

But that money will be used for new buildings. They are already tearing down many of the classrooms I used when I was there. I know I am out of place to question the donor's intentions, but if it were my money being donated, I would like for it to be used to pay professors and support able students who are unable to pay their way.

Quality of facilities is part of the ranking criteria, and I can understand why the Ross donation helped raise Michigan's rank, and in turn, its popularity among applicants. But as for student quality. it is hard to tell. The 700-level average GMAT (of admitted students) is about 95th percentile, about the same as during my time, when the average GMAT was 640 (95th percentile at that time).

[nickng]

Of course. If I were working to raise funds for for the school and someone offered to donate that kind of money, I would accept it in an instant.

But that money will be used for new buildings. They are already tearing down many of the classrooms I used when I was there. I know I am out of place to question the donor's intentions, but if it were my money being donated, I would like for it to be used to pay professors and support able students who are unable to pay their way.

Quality of facilities is part of the ranking criteria, and I can understand why the Ross donation helped raise Michigan's rank, and in turn, its popularity among applicants. But as for student quality. it is hard to tell. The 700-level average GMAT (of admitted students) is about 95th percentile, about the same as during my time, when the average GMAT was 640 (95th percentile at that time).
KuyaDanny, given the way endowments work won't the spending on the classrooms or facilities be a one-time thing only? I expect that after renovations and upgrades are done, future allocations of the endowment income will be for the purposes that you've mentioned. Of course I'm not from UMichigan, but long-term investments in facilities are always part of a B-school's vision and marketability.

I was just projecting: with a $100M endowment and assuming a conservative annual ROI of 6% per year, the Ross Business School would have $6M to spend every academic year. That's more than a 150 million pesos a year on top of everything, enough for 7 Carillon restoration projects. I wish all the UP multi-millionaire alumni (and I know a couple) would do that for UP the way Manny Pangilinan does for Ateneo.

[KuyaDanny]

Yes, the spending on classrooms will be a one-time thing. The new building will cost $145 million, of which $75 million will come from Ross's gift. The balance of "only" $25 million will add to the endowment.

You can tell I have biases. I consider software more important than hardware. Facilities may be important when I am actually attending classes in the school, but when I leave I can't take any part of the building with me. ;) However, the influence of professors, the outlook and ideas I form, and the experience gained from interacting with good teachers and students can affect what I do for the rest of my life.

As for the UP - that is my wish, too. My wife is a UP alumna and their graduating class raised some money among themselves as a gift to the School of Economics when they celebrated their jubilee year. From her experience, asking money from alumni is like squeezing blood from stone. Mahirap talaga. It would be a great thing if multi-millionaire alumni gave a few million, but that requires work. It might be easier if 100,000 "ordinary" alumni (are there that many?) donated P1,000 each.

[huntfan]

^^^ Yup I think the P1000 donation per year per alumnus is much easier than the millionaire option.. Although medyo mahina din ang UP when it comes to direct solicitation. I have never received any solicitation letters from UP itself.. So all my money donations go to my fraternity. Satisfied naman ako sa mga initiated and supported projects ng fraternity ko.. :D

According to UP's Office of Alumni Relations:

By Graduates:

# of Alumni from 1909 to Feb 2006: 237,023
# of Alumni Alive: 226,661
# of Alumni Deceased: 10,362

By Degrees:

# of degrees granted from 1909 to Feb 2006: 267,183
UP Diliman: 145,164
UP Los Banos: 47,872
UP Manila: 41,037
UP Visayas: 26,372
UP Open University: 2,256
UP Baguio: 3,778
UP Mindanao: 704

[KuyaDanny]

I wasn't even hoping for P1,000 per year per alumnus. Even P1,000 one time per alumnus would be a great start. If those funds earned P5.0 million a year, it would make quite a difference if used to augment professors' salaries.

[nickng]

Yes, the spending on classrooms will be a one-time thing. The new building will cost $145 million, of which $75 million will come from Ross's gift. The balance of "only" $25 million will add to the endowment.

You can tell I have biases. I consider software more important than hardware. Facilities may be important when I am actually attending classes in the school, but when I leave I can't take any part of the building with me. ;) However, the influence of professors, the outlook and ideas I form, and the experience gained from interacting with good teachers and students can affect what I do for the rest of my life.

As for the UP - that is my wish, too. My wife is a UP alumna and their graduating class raised some money among themselves as a gift to the School of Economics when they celebrated their jubilee year. From her experience, asking money from alumni is like squeezing blood from stone. Mahirap talaga. It would be a great thing if multi-millionaire alumni gave a few million, but that requires work. It might be easier if 100,000 "ordinary" alumni (are there that many?) donated P1,000 each.
Well that's a good point KuyaDanny especially if they're using $75M for the buildings, I thought only the interest income was being utilized. That's a bit excessive...parang bagong Ayala Center na yan dito. :lol:

Oh I'm from the UPSE too...one of these days (when I'm hopefully rich enough) I want to contribute something too. But that's precisely the problem - squeezing blood from stone is hard but not impossible. The US unis have all done an excellent job of getting alumni to donate, I don't know why UP can't do the same. Part of it I think is how insular UP culture has become. If more professors/university officials were exposed to the best practices of US universities, we'd see some progress. They should divide efforst between a mass, 'democratized' fund-raising from the hundreds of thousands of UP alumni and also try to get a couple of million each from the millionaires. Then UP wouldn't have a problem at all.

[nickng]

A few interesting figures about the endowments of US universities:

Yale University under David Swensen's stewardship has scored an annual 16.1% return for its endowment since 1985, and 17.3% annualized return from 1995-2005, beating all other university endowments (as well as the annualized return of US hedge funds, which came in at just over 14% from 1990 to 2005).

However, Harvard University still has the biggest endowment in the world with almost $26 billion in assets under management. In Princeton University, 58.6% of the alumni donate back to their school. Contrast this to Oxford, with only 5% of alumni donating, or Cambridge, where only 10% give back to their alma mater. I wonder what the figures in UP are.

Top 5 University Endowment Returns, 2004-2005
1. Yale University - 22.3% return, $15.2 billion endowment
2. Stanford University - 19.5% return, $12.4 billion endowment
3. Harvard University - 19.2% return, $25.9 billion endowment
4. University of Michigan - 19.1% return, $4.9 billion endowment
5. University of Notre Dame - 19.1% return, $4.1 billion endowment

Endowment Assets Under Management, 2005
1. Harvard University - $25.9 billion
2. Yale University - $15.2 billion
3. Stanford University - $12.4 billion
4. Princeton University - $11.2 billion

Source: Bloomberg Markets, January 2006

[KuyaDanny]

http://i6.tinypic.com/1253xie.jpg

This picture was taken by the construction webcam at the Ross School a few minutes ago. I sat in some of those classrooms years ago. In a few weeks the building will be all gone. :(

Anyway, nickng, my wife is treasurer of the UPSE Alumni Association. If you want to help their fundraising, let me know and I'll tell her. At the very least they could use people to locate and organize the graduates, especially the younger classes. If you have P1,000 to give, they'll gladly take that. No need to wait till you're rich enough. I am sure every little bit counts. ;)

[MidwestEagle]

[lurker coming out of the woodwork here...]

One of the things that holds Philippine schools back is the low tuition. Of course the RP is much poorer than the US, but the top schools could still do a better job of price discriminating.

For example, UP should triple its tuition and then give generous scholarships or financial aid to most middle class and poorer families. It could be adjusted so everyone with an income below X still pays about what they pay today, but the wealthier families would end up paying a lot more. No reason that wealthy families shouldn't pay something closer to what they would pay at Ateneo or La Salle.

The extra money would help pay for better working conditions, facilities, and improved faculty retention.

The problem with attracting REALLY big donations (I'm talking more than a million US) is that rich donors want prestige, control, and influence from their gifts. In many cases, the real millionaires actually get more bang for the buck from donating to US universities. Big endowment gifts for the RP are possible, but the efforts need to be carefully targeted and the money needs to be spent in ways to attract donors. Like it or not buildings are what attract money so one should be grateful that there is something left over to hire good profs. Having worked with the development office, I can tell you that getting big bucks is a long term struggle.

I also think that the Philippines doesn't yet have a star system of professors which has its good and bad points.

In the US, the top researchers can be lured from the best universities to the second or third tier with enough dough. So state schools which have more egalitarian pay schemes are hindered in hiring. UC schools and Michigan have all sorts of hidden "pots" with which they supplement the base pay of their most mobile faculty. These star profs teach very little, but they improve the standing of the schools which in turn attracts the top students, which allows tuition to go higher as reputation grows, etc., etc....

[nickng]

This picture was taken by the construction webcam at the Ross School a few minutes ago. I sat in some of those classrooms years ago. In a few weeks the building will be all gone. :(

Anyway, nickng, my wife is treasurer of the UPSE Alumni Association. If you want to help their fundraising, let me know and I'll tell her. At the very least they could use people to locate and organize the graduates, especially the younger classes. If you have P1,000 to give, they'll gladly take that. No need to wait till you're rich enough. I am sure every little bit counts. ;)
Mmph. I wonder if I'll feel that same twinge of loss if they ever tear down Palma Hall. But oh well KuyaDanny, the old (us) must always make room for the new. ;)

Sure, I wouldn't mind helping out the fundraising. You can let your wife know I'm interested...I'm from Batch 2005.

[nickng]

[lurker coming out of the woodwork here...]

One of the things that holds Philippine schools back is the low tuition. Of course the RP is much poorer than the US, but the top schools could still do a better job of price discriminating.

For example, UP should triple its tuition and then give generous scholarships or financial aid to most middle class and poorer families. It could be adjusted so everyone with an income below X still pays about what they pay today, but the wealthier families would end up paying a lot more. No reason that wealthy families shouldn't pay something closer to what they would pay at Ateneo or La Salle.

The extra money would help pay for better working conditions, facilities, and improved faculty retention.

The problem with attracting REALLY big donations (I'm talking more than a million US) is that rich donors want prestige, control, and influence from their gifts. In many cases, the real millionaires actually get more bang for the buck from donating to US universities. Big endowment gifts for the RP are possible, but the efforts need to be carefully targeted and the money needs to be spent in ways to attract donors. Like it or not buildings are what attract money so one should be grateful that there is something left over to hire good profs. Having worked with the development office, I can tell you that getting big bucks is a long term struggle.

I also think that the Philippines doesn't yet have a star system of professors which has its good and bad points.

In the US, the top researchers can be lured from the best universities to the second or third tier with enough dough. So state schools which have more egalitarian pay schemes are hindered in hiring. UC schools and Michigan have all sorts of hidden "pots" with which they supplement the base pay of their most mobile faculty. These star profs teach very little, but they improve the standing of the schools which in turn attracts the top students, which allows tuition to go higher as reputation grows, etc., etc....
MidwestEagle, those are all very good points you make. Which university development office did you work with?

With regards to UP's tuition, it's easy for everyone to see that it should be increased but not easy at all to actually increase it. But the STFAP (Socialized Tuition Fee and Assistance Program) is undergoing a study for revisions of the upper brackets so that well-off students will finally pay more than 6,000 pesos per semester while the less well-off ones will still pay next to nothing. The only problem hindering this is the activists who believe that no one should pay anything at all and that the state should fully subsidize our tuition - talking with idiots takes time, in order to demonstrate the idiocy of their position fully. :love:

[JeoffDomingo]

MidwestEagle,

With regards to UP's tuition, it's easy for everyone to see that it should be increased but not easy at all to actually increase it. But the STFAP (Socialized Tuition Fee and Assistance Program) is undergoing a study for revisions of the upper brackets so that well-off students will finally pay more than 6,000 pesos per semester while the less well-off ones will still pay next to nothing. The only problem hindering this is the activists who believe that no one should pay anything at all and that the state should fully subsidize our tuition - talking with idiots takes time, in order to demonstrate the idiocy of their position fully.
I really think UP should take this "revision" plan seriously because aside from leasing out its assets, these tuition fees are the only viable means for UP to generate funds – in gargantuan amount – that I can think off.

But there is another income generating scheme which I think UP can hook on. My alma mater school in England, for instance, has this very lucrative programme wherein it establishes collaboration with a wide range of companies and organisations from the largest multi-nationals to the smallest new businesses. They call it The Warwick Ventures. Under this scheme, the university will offer a range of services to business, from training and professional development to support for research and development. In return, the university and its staff are paid in hefty amount for the professional and technical services they provide. And there’s also this Warwick Science Park. The Science Park is an exclusive and high quality development, providing flexible office accommodation, for knowledge and technology-based businesses developing or trading in innovative products and services. This is similar to Stanford’s Silicon Valley only that the companies are not limited to information technology.

[JeoffDomingo]

I also think that the Philippines doesn't yet have a star system of professors which has its good and bad points.

In the US, the top researchers can be lured from the best universities to the second or third tier with enough dough. So state schools which have more egalitarian pay schemes are hindered in hiring. UC schools and Michigan have all sorts of hidden "pots" with which they supplement the base pay of their most mobile faculty. These star profs teach very little, but they improve the standing of the schools which in turn attracts the top students, which allows tuition to go higher as reputation grows, etc., etc....

UP has been quite lucky because it has the horde of the country's top researchers across all fields. So I do not see how that would help UP, really. Maybe for other schools like De La Salle, Ateneo, UST and UA&P, that, BTW, is what they are doing now.

From time to time, UP invites some of its most famous and most successful alumni to conduct a series of talks and lectures to the students. The colleges of Engineering, Science, Business Administration, Public Administration, Mass Communication and Arts & Letters are known to have done this on a regular basis.

[MidwestEagle]

The current system loses many of the best researchers in academia as they leave for full time work in the private sector. Moreover, Filipinos who are torn between going abroad and staying might also be more attracted by higher salaries.

There's also no reason that the Philippines shouldn't be more successful at hiring a few top people who aren't Filipino. Indeed, the Philippines should be more of a center of education in Asia. You have English speaking academics with first rate students. But the schools -- even Ateneo and La Salle -- have almost no money compared to other Asian centers. A far-sighted school backed by visionary leaders might convince a wealthy donor to establish major centers of teaching and research. In the long-run, it would draw on more students from all over Asia. And this in turn would draw more endowment.

AIM was a very good idea but I think it is too modest. The best schools need to have more programs that attract and also charge high fees from the affluent while providing selected scholarships for the poorer but brillliant. There are many more people with high-quality PhDs than there are jobs in America and Europe.

But I freely admit I don't know what the social/internal constraints are on a big state university such as UP. I assume that -- like all state institutions -- it has political hurdles that the privates don't have to face.

I just think that if a poor country like India can establish great schools like IIT, the Philippines should be able to do the same in medicine, law, business, engineering, and the social sciences. In the long run, it has strong payoffs for the country even if the best students leave for the States. These expats can donate money, keep the schools in touch with the leading edge, and increase the two-way flow of ideas and scholars between the RP and the richer nations. Moreover, companies are likely to build businesses around such academic centers of excellence.

[MidwestEagle]

nickng,

This unwillingness to charge higher tuition has also been hampering European universities. The following is an article about France from the NYT [Unfortunately you have to pay to read it] But the gist is that French universities are in decline. And yet it can't be improved because demands on schooling grow, but students insist on paying nearly nothing, while having virtually open admission to all but the super elite institutes. Professors earn roughly the same no matter where. There is no threat of firing as in the tenure system in the US and much of the UK. Most of Continental Europe has similar problems.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E15F63C5A0C718DDDAC0894DE404482

Even the U California system suffers from pressures to socialize pay. Every time it is revealed that some professors are really well paid there is pressure to eliminate the gap. But then the top privates begin another round of poaching. Believe me, it doesn't feel nice to know someone is earning N times your salary. But it's necessary to do some of this to keep the big guns.

[trauma]

I assure you that if you make all these suggestions at Peyups.com, you will all be branded as capitalist pigs and anti-poor. Discussing with them is like talking with bricks as they are already brain-washed and just mouth their socialist propaganda. I dont mind the tuition-fee increase if it is targeted to produce a better academic environment and help those who really can't pay the tuition (a better socialized tution fee scheme).

[nickng]

nickng,

This unwillingness to charge higher tuition has also been hampering European universities. The following is an article about France from the NYT [Unfortunately you have to pay to read it] But the gist is that French universities are in decline. And yet it can't be improved because demands on schooling grow, but students insist on paying nearly nothing, while having virtually open admission to all but the super elite institutes. Professors earn roughly the same no matter where. There is no threat of firing as in the tenure system in the US and much of the UK. Most of Continental Europe has similar problems.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E15F63C5A0C718DDDAC0894DE404482

Even the U California system suffers from pressures to socialize pay. Every time it is revealed that some professors are really well paid there is pressure to eliminate the gap. But then the top privates begin another round of poaching. Believe me, it doesn't feel nice to know someone is earning N times your salary. But it's necessary to do some of this to keep the big guns.

MidwestEagle, I know UP circumvents this problem by actively augmenting research grants and creating endowments for professorial chairs. That way basic pay is still the same for all professors in that bracket, but those who produce more output or who are more visible get the grants and chairs. More meritocratic that way I suppose.

[gablorenzo]

Batsa, ang endownment ng De La Salle University-Manila ay...

PhP 501.03 million