More than half of all ACU scholarship money was covered by endowment money last year. Besides scholarships, things such as professorships, department funding and missions work receive contributions. Tuition also is kept lower through the endowment, and administrators say the programs it helps to fund provide higher quality. That's not an easy thing to do. Although the income generated by endowment investments is utilized by numerous groups, there are some limitations.
Donors often specify how they want their contributions to be used.
Tyson said that although the university welcomes any contributions to the endowment, unrestricted donations are preferred. Since its inception in the early '50s, ACU's endowment has become one of the 250 largest of all colleges and universities in the nation. It has nearly tripled in size over the last ten years and become more of a reliable revenue source. This is largely because of a healthy U.S. stock market, which has brought large returns to universities nationwide. Representatives of the school said people should realize endowments can lose money if investments don't pan out.