They are often the lifeblood for higher learning, providing most major colleges and universities the ability to fund their operating costs with sources other than tuition.

Endowments allow professors to receive higher salaries and sometimes help reduce student fees. They can also be applied toward classroom technology, research, maintaining campus buildings and other perks that help a college or university give students a quality education.

Endowments, which are usually the gifts of donors, continue to grow exponentially as the nation recovers from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Among 832 institutions, endowments returned an average of 15.5 percent for the 2014 fiscal year after subtracting fees, compared with 11.7 percent for the 2013 fiscal year, according to a study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO).

Some universities, however, are in a league of their own. Harvard University boasted the nation’s richest endowment at $36,448,817 million at the end of fiscal year 2015.

Texas A&M was the highest SEC representative, ranking seventh nationally after totaling $10,477,102 million over the entire Texas A&M university system that includes more than 61,000 students.

Vanderbilt, with its smaller student body of 12,686, lists the highest endowment funds per student with more than $322,000 per student from the school’s overall endowment of $4,133,542 million.

Mississippi State was the SEC school with the lowest endowment, its $449,106 total ranking 185th nationally. Additionally, the funds for some of schools – Texas A&M, Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri – are spread over the entire college systems in which they are a part.

Here’s a look at how the rest of the SEC stacks up in endowments, according to the 2015 NACUBO figures.

  • Alabama: $1,238,954
  • Arkansas: $948,679
  • Auburn: $641,993
  • Florida: $1,555,703
  • Georgia: $1,004,987
  • Kentucky: $1,142,722
  • LSU: $851,833
  • Mississippi State: $449,106
  • Missouri: $1,476,959
  • Ole Miss: $606,387
  • South Carolina: $625,186
  • Tennessee: $1,106,924
  • Texas A&M: $10,477,102
  • Vanderbilt: $4,133,542