Harvard, Stanford Get Top Environment, Investing Marks in Study

By Matthew Keenan

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College and Williams College received the best grades in a study of environmental policies and investment practices at the 100 richest U.S. higher-education institutions.

The four schools received A-minuses in a report issued today by the Sustainable Endowments Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The study examines how well schools align their on-campus policies and financial interests, said Mark Orlowski, the institute's executive director.

The 100 institutions have endowments worth $258 billion, about three-fourths of the $344.1 billion in U.S. higher- education funds. The 2-year-old sustainability institute, affiliated with the nonprofit consulting group Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in New York, hopes to spark discussion ``at the highest levels'' of education, Orlowski said.

``Linking campus sustainability efforts with endowment- investment policies is important,'' Orlowski said. ``It assures a unified sustainability vision for an institution.''

The study measured schools on campus-related policies such as energy saving, recycling and so-called green building design. The group also examined financial priorities, including investments in renewable energy and community development, and the transparency of endowment holdings and proxy votes.

Aligning investment decisions and campus environmental policies might allow schools to avoid criticism such as that leveled recently at the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation over its investments, Orlowski said.

Investments

The $31.9 billion foundation, the world's largest charitable fund, was the subject of a series of Los Angeles Times articles. The newspaper reported that more than 40 percent of the foundation's investments were in companies that contributed to health, housing and social welfare problems that the group seeks to solve.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, split from the wealth management office of Rockefeller Financial Services five years ago, helped steer about $150 million to U.S. and international charities in 2006.

Harvard, the world's wealthiest university with $29.2 billion in endowment assets, received A's in six of seven major categories in the institute study. That included one A for a ``green campus initiative'' that employs 16 full-time employees and 40 students.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts, university received a grade of C for endowment transparency because details of its investments are available only to board members and senior administrators, the study said. Harvard had an investment return of 16.7 percent in the fiscal year ended June 30.

Stanford, Dartmouth

Stanford, located near Palo Alto, California, also received a C for transparency and A's for investments in renewable energy and using proxy vote recommendations from a campus advisory panel. Stanford has a $15.2 billion endowment, third-largest in the U.S., and gained 19.4 percent in fiscal year 2006.

Dartmouth is building a $17.6 million residence hall intended to be a model of sustainable living, the report card said. The Hanover, New Hampshire, school received A's for posting holdings annually on a Web site and considering recommendations on proxy resolutions from a committee of staff, students and alumni. Dartmouth's endowment earned a fiscal-year return of 14.9 percent.

Williams, a liberal-arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with a $1.5 billion endowment, was the only school to earn A's in all three investing categories.

After the top four schools, 22 earned overall grades of B, 54 received C's and 20 got D's. The latter included five institutions with D-minuses, the lowest given: Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey; Trinity University in San Antonio; the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana; the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma; and Yeshiva University in New York City.

Twenty-six schools received A-minus grades for their on- campus sustainability programs. Orlowski's institute didn't rate schools on the investing categories alone.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Keenan in Boston at mkeenan6@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: January 24, 2007 00:08 EST

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