<p>Brown University’s endowment earned a 1-percent return for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, closing the year with a market value of $2.52 billion.</p>

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University’s endowment earned a 1-percent return for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, closing with a market value of $2.52 billion, according to an announcement today by Cynthia Frost, the University’s chief investment officer.

“Brown earned a modest return in a challenging market,” Frost said. “Our portfolio is well positioned to support the University’s long-term goals.”

The $2.52-billion market value for fiscal 2012 reflects the investment return, new gifts to the endowment of more than $60 million, and a distribution of $120 million toward the University’s fiscal 2012 operating budget. For the last 10 years, Brown’s endowment had an average annual compound return of 7.7 percent.

Brown’s endowment contributed nearly 14.4 percent of the University’s operating budget for the fiscal year. The endowment is essential in supporting Brown’s commitment to a need-blind admission policy. Forty-three percent of Brown undergraduates received financial aid directly from the University, totaling $88.1 million for the 2011-12 academic year. The endowment also supports professorships, graduate student fellowships, library acquisitions, the Division of Biology and Medicine, more than 60 academic programs, all varsity sports, and building maintenance. The endowment is designed to sustain these vital areas in perpetuity.