Harvard Runs Deficit, Even as Endowment Grows Sharply

Harvard University ended fiscal year 2025 with a $113 million operating deficit, according to its annual financial report—the first such loss in more than a decade, Harvard Magazine reported.

That follows a $45 million surplus in FY 2024.

The report, published Thursday, showed that revenue and expense growth both slowed in FY 2025, which ended June 30, but expenses still rose twice as fast as revenue—6 percent versus 3 percent.

The deficit reflects “some effects of the Trump administration’s unprecedented fiscal and regulatory assault” on Harvard and higher education more broadly, Harvard Magazine noted.

While the report itself doesn’t mention President Trump by name, it suggests that Harvard is steeling itself for more battles with the government.

“Looking forward, daunting challenges await: the declining trajectory of federal research support, the forthcoming increase in the endowment tax, the still-unfolding challenges to our ability to host international students and scholars and ongoing litigation—all against the backdrop of serious geopolitical and economic pressures and the potential for significant inflation,” Harvard treasurer Timothy Barakett and Ritu Kalra, vice president for finance and chief financial officer, wrote in the report. “Structural changes and reductions across our Schools and units will be necessary, and they will not be easy. Our work is far from finished.”

At the same time, Harvard’s endowment—already the largest among universities worldwide—grew by $3.7 billion to $56.9 billion, thanks to an investment return of 11.9 percent, up from 9.6 percent in FY 2024.

In addition, alumni and friends donated more than $600 million in unrestricted gifts, according to the report—a record for the university.

In his opening message in the report, Harvard president Alan Garber acknowledged the contributions of “alumni and friends who believe in our mission and in our capacity to evolve, especially in times of crisis.”

“Although their own aspirations, backgrounds, and perspectives range widely, our many supporters are united by the conviction that Harvard is not a paragon of perfection but a crucible of change,” he wrote. “Their generous support, through philanthropy and advocacy for Harvard and its values, has never been more important. It represents a vote of confidence in our enduring ability to welcome talented individuals into our community, to take on the greatest challenges of our time, and to rigorously and relentlessly pursue truth.”