Despite facing $113 million in operating losses , Harvard University's wealth only grew this year, according to the university's financial report released Thursday.
Harvard, the world's wealthiest university, saw its endowment grow from $53.2 billion to $56.9 billion, according to the report, which included data up to June 30, 2025.
"The endowment remains central to navigating the uncertainty —not as a source of short-term relief but as a covenant across generations," said Ritu Kalra, vice president for finance and chief financial officer at the university, and Timothy R. Barakett, the treasurer.
At the same time as the endowment increased, Harvard reported that it received over $600 million in gifts that can be spent immediately — the highest in Harvard's history.
The endowment increase comes in the face of attacks from the Trump administration. As part of two of the university's lawsuits against the federal government, a judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the university's nearly $3 billion in federal funding cuts. Since then, most of the university's funding has been restored.
Despite that restoration of funding, the university reported a $113 million operating loss — the institution's first operating loss since the pandemic and largest loss in the past 14 years.
The university noted that the increase in its endowment is a crucial part of how the university is able to support its students.
The endowment helped to expand Harvard's financial aid program , offering students from families earning below $100,000 to attend for free and those making $200,000 to attend tuition-free. The fund also funded over $750 million in financial aid across Harvard, according to the financial administrators.
Eighty percent of the funds in the endowment are restricted to particular purposes, the financial administrators said. In fiscal year 2025, the university spent $2.5 billion, which is 40% of the university's operations.
"Even by the standards of our centuries-long history, fiscal year 2025 was extraordinarily challenging," said Harvard's President Alan Garber.
"Our mission and our values will continue to guide us as we chart a course through what will no doubt be among the most difficult and demanding periods in the history of the University. Our work together will ensure that Harvard will not only endure but thrive," he said.
In comparison to this year's $113 million operating loss, Harvard ended last year, fiscal year 2024, with an operating surplus of $45 million, a report showed .
The university noted that the reason for losses was multilayered, in large part coming from federal government pressures, according to a statement from Ritu Kalra, vice president for finance and chief financial officer at the university, and Timothy R. Barakett, the treasurer.
While the university came into the year with concerns about expenses outpacing revenues and inflation, the two said the fiscal year closed with the termination of Harvard's federal funding, pressures and constraints from international students and an increase in endowment tax.
"All of these developments have raised new questions about the financial foundations of higher education and underscore a shifting federal policy environment that will shape the future," the two said.
Part of what the university has done to combat the federal funding pressures includes a hiring freeze, workforce reductions, leaving open positions unfilled, deferring non-critical capital projects and freezing salary increases for exempt staff next year, the two said. The university also issued $1.2 billion of long-term debt.
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