College Giving Rose 6.3% Last Year, Report Finds

American colleges and universities raised an estimated $29.8-billion in the 2007 fiscal year, the

highest total ever recorded, according to a report released today by the Council for Aid to Education. But the country’s recent economic troubles have some fund-raising experts concerned that the high times might be coming to an end.

Private donations to colleges and universities climbed 6.3 percent in 2007, the fourth consecutive year of growth, according to the report, which describes results from the council’s annual “Voluntary Support of Education” survey. When inflation is taken into account, the increase was 3.4 percent.

Large donations to the nation’s wealthiest colleges accounted for much of the increase. The top 20 recipients, which represent just 2 percent of the survey respondents, raised more than a quarter of all the contributions.

“The top 20 historically have controlled a lot, and they’re controlling a bigger and bigger share of private donations,” said Ann E. Kaplan, the survey’s director. “It’s large gifts to large institutions that drive national trends.”

Foundation Grants

Foundation giving is also playing an increasingly important role. Gifts from foundations increased 19.7 percent, reaching $8.5-billion, with more than a third of that money coming from family foundations.

Gifts from family funds climbed 31.5 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to a sampling of more than half the 1,023 institutions surveyed.

Alumni and other individual donors contributed just under half the total amount raised. But the percentage of alumni who made gifts dropped, continuing a decades-long trend. Over the past five years, however, alumni giving has increased more than 25 percent.

Institutions of all types reported higher fund-raising totals.

Liberal-arts colleges that responded to the survey saw a 9.8-percent increase in private support, raising $2.8-billion. Two-year colleges that replied raised a total of $250-million, up from $197-million in 2006.

Stanford U. Tops List

The top 20 institutions in the survey raised $518-million more than they did in 2006, accounting for nearly 30 percent of total growth in private donations during the 2007 fiscal year, which ended June 30 at most colleges.

Stanford University raised more than any other institution, $832.3-million, followed by Harvard University ($614.0-million), the University of Southern California ($469.7-million), the Johns Hopkins University ($430.5-million), and Columbia University ($423.9-million).

Megagifts continue to reshape higher education. According to the report, 80 large contributions made in 2007 accounted for $2.2-billion.

The University of Southern California’s donations increased 15.7 percent from 2006 to 2007, the largest gain seen by any institution in the top 10, largely because of a $100-million foundation grant.

Ambitious campaigns continue to help many institutions thrive. Over the past five years, two large campaigns have helped Stanford’s fund-raising income grow 83 percent. The university raised $1.1-billion in a campaign that ended in 2005. And it is partway through a five-year, $4.3-billion campaign for which it has raised more than $3-billion.

While Stanford is conducting the largest university campaign, 22 other institutions have set a goal of raising more than $1-billion each.

As all that money has come in, some members of Congress have called for wealthy colleges and universities to distribute more of it to needy students. But Ms. Kaplan said federal lawmakers should look at the totals carefully before making any judgments.

“There’s been a lot in the news about higher education and all the wealth that resides there and the responsibilities of wealth,” she said. “We’re not talking about most colleges. What is happening in the typical institution is different from what is happening in a handful of institutions.”

Tough Economy

Despite the gains last year, fund-raising experts are concerned that the good times may soon end.

The stock market has fallen sharply in recent months, and some observers fear the economy may be heading into a recession. Sharp fluctuations in the stock market and a decline in the gross domestic product can negatively affect capital giving and annual gifts to higher education.

Robert F. Sharpe Jr., a fund-raising consultant who works with many colleges and universities, agreed. “If the market falls and people’s wealth shrinks, then you start seeing a slowdown, or people postponing capital contributions,” he said. “But the big donors, who drive these numbers anyway, tend to be stable.”

The report is available for purchase at the council’s Web site.

Brad Wolverton is a senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education.