It has often been said that COVID-19 exacerbated already existing social inequalities. Corporate giants like Amazon, United Parcel Service (UPS), and Comcast profited handsomely from the pandemic while millions of working people struggled with unemployment and austerity. Large companies used federal bailout money for stock buybacks while many small businesses were forced to close.

But there’s been another big pandemic winner flying under the radar: wealthy university endowments. These endowments grew by a median of 27 percent in 2021, the highest rate in the last thirty-five years.

University endowments are funds that a university receives from individual and organizational donors. The money usually comes with specific constraints from the donors on what it can be used for. For many elite universities, endowments have reached astronomical levels.