Even with a $27 billion endowment, Stanford University expects layoffs will be ‘unavoidable’
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/29/stanford-president-expects-layoffs-even-with-27-billion-endowment.html
It's ridiculous schools can't survive with how expensive they are.
One point that should be noted is that endowment is not money that the institution can spend freely. They often times have very specific purposes/designations for where that money goes. $2 billion given for research/lab equipment has to go to just that. Again, I agree that its crazy schools are having so much trouble with how high higher ed costs these days.
The post is misleading though when you really look at what an endowment is there for. They cannot choose to reallocate a lit of the money. Audits and regulators ensure that much at least. Maybe we should stop paying uni presidents so much, or put less of a focus on sports (at least spending wise).