Data gathered from 831 U.S. colleges and universities
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A steep decline from the FY2011 average return of 19.2 percent.
Fixed-income investment and so-called "alternative strategies" including private equity and venture capital saw the largest returns. International equities, commodities and hedge funds all had bad years.
Up 0.6 percent from last year, but still below what institutions expect.
Wealthier institutions continue to invest more heavily than less-wealthy institutions in "alternative strategies" such as private equity, hedge funds, venture capital and real estate. Less-wealthy institutions still tend to invest the majority of their endowments in domestic equities and fixed-income.