NCAAbbs

Atlantic Sun Ranked by Endowment:
1) Mercer University $200 million (Mercer already has another $200 million in pledged donations which would put the endowment over $400 million; plus the law school has an endowment of over $90 million)
2) Stetson $139 million
3) Campbell University $104.7 million
4) Lipscomb $81 million
5) East Tennessee $74.3 million
6) Belmont University $71 million
7) North Florida $90 million
8) Jacksonville U $60.8 million
9) Florida Gulf Coast $39 million
10) Kennesaw $23.8 million
11) USC Upstate $2 million
Other than ETSU, the public schools are at the bottom. Unless you are a major university, this is typically how it goes.

I am not trying to pick on anyone, but I do get tired of people saying that the "smaller private schools don't have any money." As you can see the largest public school in our conference has the least amount of money, except for USC Upstate.

All numbers came from either wikipedia.com or US News and World Report. Note: US News puts ESTU @ just under $54 million which is in line with the other public schools in the conference.

Where did you find those stats?

I'm pretty sure Stetson's endowment is larger than $139. I looked for some evidence, but couldn't find any. Too lazy to look harder!

Wikipedia...

US News & World Report puts Stetson's endowment at around $124m. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreview..._brief.php

We ALL know how accurate WIKI is...

Yeah it is a little off, US News and World Report gave lower numbers for most schools. Just trying to prove the point that typically (not always) smaller private schools have more money.

US News is probably more accurate for ETSU b/c their endowment is reported as just under $54m there; that would put them in line with the other public schools.

Great info CWG... thanks for the post.

I never said private schools didn't have money. You are taking me way out of context. I simply believe that in the future that Kennesaw will close the gap. This doesn't mean that Mercer is going to lose money or not be a financially viable university. Chill out buddy. In addition endowment size doesn't have a lot to do with athletics revenue. Maybe that is where I got more off topic with my original point. Either way, I am not looking slam anyone. I like Mercer, I think you have a great school, and a great athletics program. I stand by my original intent though which was supposed to be that Kennesaw will be raising more money to be used for our athletic program in 10-20 years than Mercer, and that will be due to our enrollment numbers.

But your opinion is yours...we won't really know for another 15 years, just don't get so fired about up me disagreeing with you :) Two people can have different opinions on something like this. Not trying to upset anyone, just trying to listen and share opinions. I definitely learned some good info by looking into this...

Agreed.

I didn't mean to get defensive either.

Here is what I believe (like it really matters)...

1) The larger public schools have an advantage as far as athletics go.
a) More Students & More Alumni = More attendance & More exposure
b) Less selectivity in admissions = a larger talent pool.

2) The smaller private schools have an advantage when it comes to fundraising
a) They can't fall back on the state so they have to take fundraising much more serious
b) Typically (not always) kids that go to the smaller private schools come from more wealthy families which will probably donate more money. Many of these are also second & third generation attendees to the private schools.
c) A greater percentage of the private school students go on for graduate degrees in law, medicine, etc... Many students come to Mercer in the first place because they want to be doctors or lawyers.
d) Tuition is much more @ the Private school and the budget is not regulated by the state. For example. Kennesaw 20,000 (Students) x $4,000 (approx tuition) = $80,000,000. Mercer 7,500 (Students) x $29,000 (approx tuition) = $217,500,000.
e) Private schools have an advantage with money because they are more efficient (not run by the state government), because the tuition is higher, alumni (typically-again, not always) have more money & are more generous.

Again, I am sorry I got defensive here, but I get so SICK of people saying the smaller private schools don't have any money when in fact they have MUCH MORE money. I will agree that the larger public schools have a big advantage when it comes to athletics primarily due to size and more lenient admission requirements.

I think we are in agreement then. I agree with basically everything in the above posts...I framed my comments incorrectly when speaking of endowments instead of talking about direct athletic funding. I attended Wake Forest University...we have a solid endowment (not as good as it should be) but we have a difficult time raising athletic funds when compared to North Carolina, NC State, Clemson, etc...because we don't have the kind of enrollment numbers those schools have. But your comments above are right on about raising funds for the actual university, and not just athletics.

CWG, the US News number for ETSU is NOT correct. The 74.3 million endowment balance for ETSU is correct. I confirmed the number by checking the ETSU Foundation's annual financial report.

Mercer & Wake are almost mirror images of each other; they are the same size and offer the same degrees (law, medicine, theology, pharmacy, etc...). The main differences is that Wake has a larger endowment & Division One football.

Question: If you graduated from Wake, then why do you pull for Kennesaw? Did you do graduate school @ Kennesaw or something?

Lived in the area for 5 years...got involved with the team during our DII National Championship run and fell in love with the program and the coaching staff. Great group of guys, and a fun style of play. If Wake and Kennesaw ever played I would be very conflicted :)

KB

I have a degree from Wake as well as ETSU.

Hopefully the Deacs will have a good year in FB.

I'm the same way about Mercer. I went to UGA for undergrad, but Mercer for grad school.

What year did you graduate from WFU?

Many moons ago.
Post grad. 1985.