As tuition costs continue to mount at universities across the nation, some colleges are sitting on mountains of cash.

And while some of that cash goes to regular campus operations or scholarships for students with financial need, many schools dont really use it at all, investing the money to fund big future projects. And sometimes, when the economy tanks, the money simply gets lost in the market.

Private schools rely on alumni and corporate sponsors to raise funds for the schools endowment fund, and while some endowments are quite restricted (as in they can only be spent after a certain amount of time, or can only be invested so as to use the profits), many leading universities have taken criticism for collecting the money and sitting on it while raising costs for students.

The most recent comprehensive endowment study from the National Association of College and University Business Owners, which evaluated the 2011 endowment funds for 839 institutions in the U.S., found 75 with more than $1 billion in the bank.

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Here are the 10 richest universities in the U.S. If any of the results surprise you, let us know in the comments section below!

Photo: ThinkstockThe Richest College: Harvard University

2011 endowment funds: $31,728,080,000 Change from previous year: 15.1% Students, Fall 2011: 21,000 Undergraduate tuition: $52,652 for tuition, room and board for the 2011-2012 school year

Topping the list for the richest university in the U.S. is Harvard, a school used to appearing at the top of most college rankings of distinction. The schools more than $30 billion eclipses the other schools endowments on this list, so even though the fund saw the least year-on-year growth of any other on the list, it doesnt seem to be in much danger of slipping down in the ranking. In any case, the recent success of a certain Asian-American Harvard alumnus in the NBA will surely open many alumni wallets for next year.

2nd-Richest: Yale University

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The 10 Richest Colleges in America