Increased income distribution from endowment to fund student aid

The Board of Trustee’s Investment Committee on June 24 approved an increase in the income distribution from the University Operating Funds Quasi-Endowment from 4.25 percent to 4.75 percent to support the new Pitt Success student aid programs announced last year.

In fiscal year 2020, this increase will result in an additional $7.5 million dedicated to student financial aid.

The University is planning to use approximately $26 million for the Pitt Success program, which includes matching, dollar-for-dollar, every federal Pell Grant awarded to a student at Pitt. The program is one of seven initiatives that the University has launched or added in recent years to help make Pitt more affordable.

The quasi-endowment is about $2.6 billion of the $4.2 billion in the Consolidated Endowment Fund. It includes non-endowed gifts that are completely free of donor restrictions on how and when the funds are spent.

The income distribution on the rest of the endowment will remain at 4.25 percent.

The actions of the Investment Committee do not require approval from the full Board of Trustees, which meets on June 28.

— Susan Jones