Endowment income has dropped for British universities, raising doubts about whether they will ever be able to compete with super-wealthy institutions in the United States. Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that universities' income from endowments and interest received fell by 2.2 per cent from Pounds 298 million to Pounds 291 million between 1997-98 and 1998-99. It is estimated that the big ten universities in the US, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton each have endowments of $1 billion or more.