[Farm93]

It's a bit simplistic to think that universities like Stanford are able to draw on the endowment to support operations. Most of the university's endowments are restricted as to how income can be used due to donor specifications - most of the endowment is specifically restricted to be used for grad aid, faculty salaries and department/program support. Even the later can be restricted by donor specification to use for specific types of expenses (research/instruction support, etc).  The bottom line is that these are legally binding requirements and that and only a small portion of the endowment has loose enough restrictions that allow use for operational/facilities support or administrative costs. It would take a boatload of effort to try to get donors to change/loosen restrictions on endowment use.

Yes, that's true.   It is easier to find a few hundred million out of ~$30 billion than a few hundred million out of $1 billion.

Harvard and Stanford both returned their CARES funds presumably because they understand most people struggling to find money to pay for rent or food would not look fondly on seeing a the wealthiest universities in the world and a bunch of children of upper middle class families getting aid while they wonder what happened to their $1,200 government check.

[Farm93]

It's a bit simplistic to think that universities like Stanford are able to draw on the endowment to support operations. Most of the university's endowments are restricted as to how income can be used due to donor specifications - most of the endowment is specifically restricted to be used for grad aid, faculty salaries and department/program support. Even the later can be restricted by donor specification to use for specific types of expenses (research/instruction support, etc).  The bottom line is that these are legally binding requirements and that and only a small portion of the endowment has loose enough restrictions that allow use for operational/facilities support or administrative costs. It would take a boatload of effort to try to get donors to change/loosen restrictions on endowment use.

Yes, that's true.   It is easier to find a few hundred million out of ~$30 billion than a few hundred million out of $1 billion.

Harvard and Stanford both returned their CARES funds presumably because they understand most people struggling to find money to pay for rent or food would not look fondly on seeing a the wealthiest universities in the world and a bunch of children of upper middle class families getting aid while they wonder what happened to their $1,200 government check.