Wall Street is making even more billionaires of US colleges

American universities are the richest they've even been with more schools than ever with endowments valued at $1 billion. From 2009 to 2016, 2016, the number of institutions hitting the 10-figure mark increased from 55 to as many as 90. This is  partly due to generous giving and a strong equity market.  Amidst so much of this money sloshing around, universities contend that while much of their endowment wealth is earmarked by donors, they do use those funds to provide discounted tuition to low- and middle-income families.