Universities Increasingly Turn to Private Donors to Offset Rising Tuition

Colleges and universities are increasingly turning to alumni and other individuals for donations to help bolster their financial-aid packages, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

In the face of rising tuition costs, and in an effort to attract talented students from low- or middle-income families, both large universities and small private colleges are having to direct more money from their operating budgets to pay for financial aid.

To avoid depleting their operating budgets, some institutions, such as Franklin & Marshall College, St. Olaf College, and Loyola University Chicago, have started making student aid the top priority of their ambitious fund-raising campaigns.

While it may seem that colleges with large endowments could easily offer generous financial-aid packages, the bulk of such endowment money is often earmarked by donors for other uses, the newspaper said.

But raising money takes time. “I definitely see programs that are starting to discuss these issues, looking at strategic planning, taking this into account,” said Robert F. Sharpe Jr., a fund-raising consultant who works with many colleges. “They plan campaigns, but it takes years.” In the meantime, said Mr. Sharpe, colleges will have to figure out ways to use the money they already have to help students afford tuition.

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