Here goes: Endowments include a whole bunch of separate funds, most of which are designated for particular purposes. (For example, scholarships for students from a particular county are pretty common.) (1/) https://twitter.com/polumechanos/status/1248109175806312448">https://twitter.com/polumecha...

In normal times, colleges count on spending a portion of the investment returns and leaving the principal intact. Typically, colleges draw down about 4.5% of their endowment each year--lower than the long-run rate of return. (2/)

People think of endowments as this giant slush fund that colleges can use as they want, but the majority of funds (something like 70%) are restricted for particular purposes. Liquidity may also be a challenge for colleges operating as hedge funds. (3/)

Most colleges have tiny endowments that generate little income. The typical private college can get about $1,000-$2,000 per year in endowment revenue--but remember most of that is restricted. Most publics have less. (4/)

Colleges really don& #39;t want to spend more out of their endowment during bad times unless absolutely necessary. It& #39;s like taking money out of the stock market at a big loss. So they try to raise new money instead. (5/)

So, to sum, endowments at most colleges are small extra sources of money that donors provide to fund things like scholarships and athletics. But colleges generally can& #39;t use them to get out of this crisis. (6/6)