Abilene Christian University’s endowment has surpassed $1 billion, placing it among the top private university endowments nationally.
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the endowment reached $1 billion, joining an elite group of private institutions.
This milestone ensures long-term financial strength, keeping an ACU education accessible while supporting experiential learning, research, and infrastructure. Over the past fiscal year, the endowment distributed more than $39 million to the university for scholarships, student experiences, faculty initiatives and academic programs.
“This achievement signals that ACU can scale its impact without compromising its identity,” said Dr. Phil Schubert, ACU president. “By funding initiatives in and beyond the classroom, the endowment directly enhances the value of an ACU degree while extending the opportunity to study here to every student pursuing academic excellence rooted in a Christ-centered community. I’m especially grateful for the innovative and disciplined leadership of ACIMCO president and chief investment officer, Joe Lee, in reaching this milestone.”
Lee, a graduate of Harvard University who led Strait Lane Capital Partners in Dallas before stepping into the ACIMCO leadership role in 2022, noted the endowment’s record trajectory for more than two decades. In a recent endowment study, ACU posted the highest investment returns over 5-year (15.8%), 10-year (11.4%), and 20-year (10.8%) periods among university endowments exceeding $500 million.
“If you had to pick one number for defining the strength and flexibility of the university as a financial organization, it would be the endowment,” Lee said. “Universities make promises that span generations, and a strong endowment gives ACU the financial foundation to keep those promises.”
Fast Facts
- Since its inception, approximately $362 million has been contributed or transferred into ACU’s endowment. Through disciplined stewardship, the endowment has provided more than $559 million in distributions and transfers to support the university.
- A university endowment is a collection of multiple smaller endowments, many of which are designated by donors for specific purposes, with a responsible portion of investment returns used each year to support the university.
- Approximately 48% of ACU’s endowment is unrestricted, compared with a median of 21% among peer endowments.
History and Legacy
The ACU endowment grew from $56 million in 1991 to over $1 billion by June 30, 2026. Key strategic decisions over those three decades include:
In 1997, ACU pivoted away from the more conservative strategies of its peers to mirror more progressive asset allocations of billion-dollar funds.- The university shifted from spending 100% of cash income to spending about 4.5% of total assets, enabling growth-oriented investments and energy royalty structures.
- In 2008, ACU established the Abilene Christian Investment Management Company (ACIMCO), a dedicated asset management subsidiary.
- The ACIMCO board approved a policy deviation allowing up to 3% of endowment assets to be concentrated in a single public company. A 2015 investment in Texas Pacific Land employing this policy initiative yielded over $73 million.
“A lot of credit goes to Jack Rich, ACU’s first CIO, for his leadership and understanding of university operations, and credit also goes to ACIMCO,” Lee said. “Having a separate board with investment expertise and dedicated focus on growing the endowment really brings a long term perspective.”
Rich, now a member of the ACU Board of Trustees, served as the university’s chief investment officer and president of ACIMCO from 2006 to 2022, following earlier leadership roles, including executive vice president of the university.
“When I started, a billion-dollar endowment seemed unimaginable, but along with visionary trustees in the mid-1990s, we began taking steps to facilitate endowment growth,” Rich said. “ACU has always been courageous, creative and innovative, and the endowment story is part of that culture.”
– Wendy Kilmer
Oct. 13, 2026