About 67 percent of returns from the endowment pay for student scholarships. The rest goes to academic programs and salaries for specific chairmanships and professorships. Baylor President Linda Livingstone intends to incorporate fundraising for endowed chairs and faculty initiatives into her academic strategies, officials said.

With almost 14,500 undergraduates, Baylor’s endowment comes to about $85,000 per student. Webb said he wants to double that as Baylor works to compete with neighboring private schools Texas Christian University and Southern Methodist University.

TCU has almost 9,000 undergraduates and a $1.2 billion endowment — more than $133,000 per student. SMU has about 6,500 undergraduates and a $1.5 billion endowment — more than $230,000 per student.

Baylor officials have longed for a $2 billion endowment for at least 15 years. Webb called the number a “reasonable, but clearly aspirational goal” with no set timeline to achieve. He said regents still discuss the number but realize it will not be met overnight.