MAY 30, 2006

Shareholder Practices in Higher Education:

A Survey of Leading Endowments by the Sustainable Endowments Institute

Today, the Sustainable Endowments Institute released its groundbreaking survey focused on shareholder practices in higher education. The survey targeted the 331 largest college and university endowments and included all schools with $100 million or more in endowment assets.

The survey looked at proxy voting, transparency of endowment holdings, and related policy questions. The response rate from endowment officials was an impressive 65 percent, with data provided by 216 of the 331 schools surveyed. The endowment assets of the responding schools total $193 billion—nearly two-thirds of all college and university endowment assets combined. Key findings about shareholder practices at the colleges and universities responding to the survey include:

- Two-thirds of the colleges and universities do not disclose university endowment investments. Survey results indicate that 66 percent of responding colleges and universities make endowment holdings available only to the trustees and senior administrators. Twelve percent of responding schools also make endowment holdings available to students and other members of the university community, while the remaining 22 percent expand access to include the public. N = 143

- Nearly three-quarters of colleges and universities keep proxy voting records private. Access to proxy voting information is limited to trustees and senior administrators at 74 percent of the responding schools. Eleven percent of schools also make proxy voting records available to students and other members of the university community, while the remaining 15 percent expand access to include the public. N = 81

- Only five percent of schools include students in proxy voting decision-making. Survey results indicate that 73 percent of responding colleges and universities do not actively vote their proxies. Of the 19 percent of schools that do participate in proxy voting, just five percent have a process inclusive of students and others. Eight percent answered “other.” N = 173

- Almost half of the schools would be open to giving students and others a voice in proxy voting. Forty-nine percent of the schools would consider establishing advisory committees on campus to make recommendation to trustees on active proxy voting. Fifty-one percent responded that they would not be open to the idea. N = 127