Stanford's endowment income is nice, but it doesn't come close to putting Stanford in a different financial league from everyone else.
If we assume Stanford's athletic endowment is $450 million, and the payout rate on the endowment is 5%, then the endowment is throwing off about $22.5 million per year. That is not enough to put Stanford in the same revenue tier as the big factory schools. The factories have a big advantage in football income, which is more than enough to offset Stanford's advantage in endowment income. Schools such as Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Alabama, and others generate much more athletic revenue than Stanford does.
Stanford's endowment income is used mostly to pay for endowed scholarships and coaching positions. Scholarships at Stanford are more expensive than scholarships at public schools. So some of Stanford's endowment money is used to cover Stanford's higher scholarship expenses.
If we assume Stanford's athletic endowment is $450 million, and the payout rate on the endowment is 5%, then the endowment is throwing off about $22.5 million per year. That is not enough to put Stanford in the same revenue tier as the big factory schools. The factories have a big advantage in football income, which is more than enough to offset Stanford's advantage in endowment income. Schools such as Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida, Alabama, and others generate much more athletic revenue than Stanford does.
Stanford's endowment income is used mostly to pay for endowed scholarships and coaching positions. Scholarships at Stanford are more expensive than scholarships at public schools. So some of Stanford's endowment money is used to cover Stanford's higher scholarship expenses.