Story by RANA ZAKARNA, for The Muleskinner—

The University of Central Missouri Foundation’s five-year rate of return has placed it among the largest and most prominent public and private higher education organizations in the nation, according to the 2012 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments.

In a comparison of 831 participating institutions, the UCM Foundation’s five-year annualized rate of return of 3.11 ranks in the top 10 percent nationally.

One of the most important parts of this achievement is that UCM’s return on investment was ranked in the top 10 percent along with the most famous universities in the nation.

“This is very exciting news because the caliber of universities represented including Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Penn State,” said Jason Drummond, executive director of the UCM Foundation. “We are proud to stand beside some of the most prestigious and largest universities in the United States.”

Drummond said UCM’s rolling five-year returns for both FY11 and FY12 outperformed the average returns of all institutions by 90 basis points and 200 basis points, respectively.’

“This is a great credit to the diligence of our finance committee as well as the expertise of our investment managers at Commerce Trust Company,” he said. “Continuing to prudently invest the financial resources of our generous donors is paramount to achieving our overall mission to make a UCM degree more affordable, accessible and valuable to students.”

The National Association of College and University Business Officers is a membership organization of more than 2,500 colleges, universities and higher education service providers throughout the United States and world.

It specifically represents chief business and financial officers.