By Mary Romano

Universities are feeling the squeeze from higher costs and President Donald Trump's sweeping campaign to cut federal funds to many schools.

Schools spent $33.4 billion, an increase of 11%, from endowments in fiscal 2025, according to an annual report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund. The 657 institutions in the survey represented $944.3 billion in assets. The biggest portion of the spending, 47.4%, went to student financial aid.

Trump has targeted universities he sees as failing to stem antisemitism and having "woke" ideology. School finance officials have told Nacubo that their biggest concerns in 2025 were "unreliable funding sources, policy disruptions, and rising operational costs," says Liz Clark, Nacubo's vice president for policy and research. "It is likely that all of these factors put pressure on institutions," leading them to rely more heavily on endowment revenue to cover expenses.

She notes that spending during the pandemic and the 2008-09 recession was higher than normal. In fiscal 2010, spending increased by 19.9%.

Performance was a bright spot: Endowments gained an average 10.9% in the 12 months through June 30, slightly down from the previous fiscal year's 11.2% return. A strong economy and markets, led by corporate earnings, easing inflation, and resilient consumer spending, boosted investment gains.

Write to Mary Romano at mary.romano@barrons.com

Last Week

Markets

Japanese stocks hit highs as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party scored a landslide victory. The Dow industrials hit a high on Monday, then fell. Financial stocks took a hit after a fintech introduced an artificial-intelligence tax-planning product. January jobs numbers were good, but 2025 revisions cut job growth. Tech led a Thursday selloff, and Bitcoin slipped below $67,000, despite inflation falling to 2.4%. On the week, the Dow lost 1.2%, the S&P 500 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite 2.1%.

Companies

Hims & Hers killed a plan for a $49/month weight-loss pill after regulators said it was illegal; Novo Nordisk also sued. Syria tapped Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Eni, and TotalEnergies to drill for oil and gas. Ford Motor reported a big quarterly loss and a $600 million tariff hit. President Donald Trump threatened to close a new bridge between Detroit and Canada. The House voted to overturn Canadian tariffs, and the Financial Times said Trump would reduce steel and aluminum levies. The EPA repealed 2009 greenhouse gas findings.

Deals

NatWest acquired wealth manager Evelyn Partners for $3.67 billion...Asset manager Nuveen is taking over the U.K.'s Schroders for $13.5 billion...Elliott Management took a stake in London Stock Exchange Group...Ancora Holdings bought $200 million in Warner Bros. Discovery shares and said it opposed the Netflix bid. Paramount Skydance sweetened its Warner bid with a ticking fee, paying shareholders if the deal is delayed.

Next Week

Monday 2/16

Equity and fixed-income markets are closed in observance of Presidents Day.

Tuesday 2/17

Cadence Design Systems, Medtronic, and Palo Alto Networks report quarterly results on Tuesday, followed by Analog Devices and Booking Holdings on Wednesday. Deere, Newmont, and Walmart release their earnings on Thursday.

Wednesday 2/18

The Federal Open Market Committee releases the minutes from its late-January monetary-policy meeting.

Friday 2/20

The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases the personal consumption expenditures price index for December. Consensus estimate is for a 2.8% year-over-year increase, even with the November data. The core PCE price index is expected to rise 2.9%, one-tenth of a percentage point more than previously.

The BEA reports its advance estimate of fourth-quarter gross-domestic-product growth. Economists forecast a seasonally adjusted growth annual rate of 2.8%, down from the third quarter's 4.4%.

The Numbers

37%

Rise in Taiwan Semiconductor revenue in January, its biggest monthly increase in its history.

$39 T

Most recent U.S. national debt, after adding $696 billion in the first four months of the new fiscal year.

3.2 M

Number of workers who quit in December, 2% of employment, well below the 12.3% in prepandemic 2019.

8.4%

Decline in home sales in January, the largest fall in four years, to a seasonally adjusted 3.9 million.

Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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February 13, 2026 19:49 ET (00:49 GMT)

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