Considering eight-story Huntsman Hall, study rooms with SMART Boards and some leather lecture chairs, it is no wonder that some students think the Wharton School is wealthier than the other schools at Penn.
And in fact, Wharton's per-student endowment fund -- the collection of philanthropic donations invested in the school's name -- is significantly larger than those of the other three undergraduate schools.
Currently, with a per-student endowment of $113,000 and 4,037 students, Wharton's pool is substantially larger than that of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, which has $77,280 for each of 2,588 students. The School of Arts and Sciences has a per-student endowment of approximately $55,000 with 8,819 students, and the School of Nursing has $38,182 for each of 825 students.
Endowment funds cover a broad range of University costs, ranging from professors' research to the construction of new facilities.
Many University officials agree that the most direct effect of the endowment on students is undergraduate financial aid.
"Financial aid access is number one," Wharton Dean Patrick Harker said of the University's financial priorities.
According to Steve Oliveira, associate dean of external affairs for Wharton, tuition only covers approximately 50 percent of the cost of educating one student. The other half of a student's educational costs are covered by several sources of revenue, one of which is endowment income.
Consequently, "without endowment, tuition would likely be higher, and that would impact the ability of many students to afford a Penn or Wharton education," Oliveira said. Likewise, if the endowment were larger, the University could potentially make a Penn education more affordable for students.
However, the size of an individual Penn school's endowment does not limit or enhance that school's ability to give financial aid.
According to Harker, if a Wharton student is given an endowed scholarship, it frees up financial aid funds for students in other schools.
"When you grow the total pie, everybody benefits," Harker said.
Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis said that raising endowment funds is critical because we "want students to graduate without burden."
However, beyond financial aid, officials say the quality of a student's educational experience is not directly affected by endowment funds.
Penn President Amy Gutmann said that the University "drives educational programs by our educational priorities and not by the endowment."
But a substantial portion of endowment funds are also used to fund faculty positions and research.
According to Meleis, there is consequently a connection between a school's endowment and its ability to attract and maintain the best faculty.
One way that endowment donations can help schools to retain the best faculty is through the process of endowing chairs -- or naming a professorship.
When a chair is created for a professor's position in a certain school, the respective school establishes a contract with the donor for the use of the donated funds. These funds may contribute to the professor's salary or research. In turn, a faculty position is created in the name of the donor.
Marshall Blume, an endowed professor of financial management, said that the chairs play a critical role in retaining and attracting faculty because being an endowed professor is akin to "being a level above a full professor."
The individual schools within the University do not compete for the same donors. Instead, the process of raising endowment funds is highly tailored to the individual donors' wants and needs.
According to Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, the University works with each potential donor to discover where the individual wants to donate.
"Philanthropy is essentially donor-driven," Carnaroli said.
Though many students believe that the disparity between the endowments exists because Wharton graduates make more money than graduates from Penn's other three schools, Oliveira said that he has no evidence to confirm that theory. Instead, Oliveira believes that high levels of donor participation contribute to Wharton's financial success.
"All gifts play a critical role -- whether they be million-dollar gifts or hundred-dollar gifts. Participation is the key," he said.
Harker said that alumni give to a school based on "a feeling of true ownership of their institution and a sense of obligation."
This may be enhanced at Wharton because of the special affinity that Wharton graduates seem to feel towards their alma mater.
"When I meet recruiters, I introduce myself as a Wharton student -- not a Penn student," Wharton sophomore Kevin Lau said."If I say 'UPenn,' there are people that think it's a state school."
According to SAS Vice Dean of External Affairs Jean-Marie Kneeley, Wharton has a "strong brand-name association" that contributes to the success of its endowment.
"I blame Ben Franklin -- if he had only named the school 'Franklin University,'" Kneeley said, adding that the School of Arts and Sciences lacks a memorable name.
However, Harker said it is not always the case that Wharton students give exclusively to Wharton. Although that is the "dominant trend," there are some Wharton alumni who give to other schools at Penn.
Others believe that Wharton's financial success may be a function of its large graduate population. Wharton's 2,225 current graduate students may eventually contribute primarily to Wharton because they may feel more allegiance towards Wharton than to Penn in general.
"Much of their support comes from their MBA alumni whose only Penn experience is the MBA program," said School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rebecca Bushnell, explaining that the MBA graduates are less likely to give to the University as a whole.
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