Kansas University’s endowment topped $1 billion in the past year and ranks 20th in the nation among public universities, according to a survey released Monday.

“It’s really a testament to how loyal our alumni and donors are and the love they have for the university,” said Rosita McCoy, senior vice president of the KU Endowment Association.

The KU endowment – a pot of money that primarily is used to generate more money for scholarships, professorships and other projects – came in at $1.049 billion in 2006, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers. That’s a 9.9 percent increase from last year’s total of $955 million.

KU’s endowment slipped one spot in the overall national rankings, from 57th last year to 58th this year.

“Those things happen,” McCoy said.

On paper, the endowment ranks fourth among Big 12 schools – but those numbers may be misleading. The University of Texas system is listed as having the fourth-biggest endowment nationwide, with more than $13.2 billion. But the monstrous Texas system encompasses nine universities, and the UT-Austin campus alone has 50,000 students, nearly double the size of KU.

Calculated on a per-student basis, McCoy said, KU’s endowment is $43,638 per full-time student, which ranks 16th among public universities.

“That doesn’t mean we give that to every student, but that really provides a lot of resources for the university that are not available to other public institutions,” she said.

The rate of return on the Endowment Association’s investments last year was 13.6 percent, compared with a 10.7 percent average for all schools nationwide.

In recent years, the Endowment Association has shifted more money into international stocks and away from U.S. stocks. For example, the portion invested in “emerging market” stocks grew from 5 percent to 7.5 percent in 2006.

Each year, a small fraction of the endowment – 4.8 percent – is spent so that its overall amount will keep growing. The dollars that flow onto campus from the Endowment Association provide an important source of money for KU that isn’t dependent on the Legislature or research grants.

Here’s how one such gift works: Last year, John Wiebe and his late wife, Harriet, donated $500,000 to the Endowment Association to create a professorship in honor of former KU faculty member James R. Neff, an orthopedic surgeon who once treated John Wiebe.

That money won’t be spent, but it will generate roughly $25,000 in interest each year for Terence McIff, the first James R. Neff/John and Harriet Wiebe chairman of orthopedic biomechanics at KU Medical Center.

About a third of the annual payment goes to boost McIff’s salary. The rest helps support research projects by medical residents who are getting specialized training from McIff as they prepare to become orthopedic surgeons.

The research includes studying ways to make better implants for hips, knees, spines, ankles and other ailing body parts.

“I consider it a great privilege and opportunity,” McIff said of the endowed professorship. “The money allows us to be a little bit independent from national grants and to actually be able to teach these residents. : The good thing is it’s perpetual, and so it’ll go on forever rather than a limited amount of time.”