College and university endowments earned an average of 19.2 percent on their investments for the year ending in June, more than 7 points higher than their fiscal 2010 performance, the Associated Press writes.

Despite the gains, the endowment funds of nearly half of the 823 institutions surveyed for the annual report issued Tuesday by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund have not returned to 2008 levels.

“Even though we had a really great year, many of our institutions are still not at a point where they’ve recovered in terms of value from the recession,” said John Walda, president of the association.

Well-heeled institutions, which tend to have higher-risk portfolios, earned the best returns last year. The 73 colleges and universities with endowments exceeding $1-billion recorded an average increase of 20.1 percent, compared with 17.6 percent for those with funds of less than $25-million.