Wealthy College Endowments Beat Market

The nation's 76 richest colleges earned a market-beating 21.3 percent on their billions of dollars in tax-free endowment funds in the fiscal year ending last June 30, according to a report issued today by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. But the large endowments' secret weapons—increasingly exotic alternative investments such as overseas companies, hedge funds, oil well leases, and timberlands—are drawing growing criticism and calls for regulation. Senior Writer Kim Clark has the story.