After two strong years, college and university endowments lost ground slightly during the fiscal year ending last June 30, with their investments declining 0.3 percent on average, according to a new study.

U.S. stock markets have risen around 10 percent since then, and many global markets are also higher, so recent performance is likely stronger.

Endowments are the assets owned and invested by universities, who typically spend about 4 to 5 percent of their values annually to support things like financial aid, faculty salaries and other expenses – and then try to replenish the payouts through fundraising and investment returns.