For 90 years, the Colorado-based Sachs Foundation has been laser-focused on supporting Black students in the state. The funder awards millions in scholarships annually—and has seen a spike in interest in the past year.
Read MoreThere’s been growing criticism that donors exacerbate inequality by funneling billions to wealthy universities with a poor track record of boosting economic mobility. Two huge scholarship gifts show a different path forward.
Read MoreBloomberg’s $1.8 billion gift to his alma mater has attracted a range of criticisms. We sort through which are fair and which aren’t—and how his detractors miss a central issue in the debate over higher ed and philanthropy.
Read MoreWhile donors are giving big to provide disadvantaged students access to elite colleges, the real work often begins once the student arrives on campus. A big gift to an Ivy League school will scale a successful initiative to help first-gen students adjust to college life.
Read MoreThe University of Michigan is wrapping up a historic fundraising campaign that’s pulled in $5 billion and counting. Of the many mega-gifts it received, we dig into one that is solely earmarked for financial aid and reflects growing donor concern around issues of affordability.
Read MoreA major donation to UT Austin’s business school provides an illuminating look into how donors hailing from the world of finance perceive ideas like “value” and “impact,” concepts which aren’t nearly as clear cut to these givers as you might think.
Read MoreA big donation to Brown University combines three donor priorities that are currently shaping the higher ed giving space: support for capital projects, funding for the liberal arts, and eliminating student loans and debt.
Read MoreAs Ivy League universities work to recruit more low- to middle-income students, the Perelman family's $65 million gift to Princeton raises familiar questions around the best way for higher ed donors to boost economic mobility.
Read MoreConfronting the perception that its $60,000 price tag puts it out of reach for most families, St. John’s College’s $300 million fundraising campaign focuses on slashing tuition and eschews costly capital projects.
Read MoreThe Oregon Community Foundation is the top grantmaker in its state and one of the biggest community foundations in the U.S. It also funds one of the largest private scholarship programs of its kind in the nation.
Read MoreMore campus donors are keen to cover tuition costs and free graduates from decades of debt. This can make for great copy, as a big recent gift to NYU’s medical school showed. But is it the most effective use of philanthropic dollars?
Read MoreWith immigrant donors representing a rising force in higher ed philanthropy, we dig into a gift from a Mexican-born entrepreneur attuned to the obstacles facing international students in these uncertain times.
Read MoreAs women's colleges struggle with shrinking enrollment, some have begun admitting men, often to the dismay of alumni. We look at how this shift is affecting fundraising at one school in Virginia—and beyond.
Read MoreOne of the byproducts of a higher ed space flush with donor cash is an uptick in unexpected mega-gifts from alumni with historically light philanthropic footprints. We dig into a recent example out of Oxford, Ohio.
Read MoreConcerned with the growing student loan crisis, universities are warming up to the idea of eliminating tuition entirely. Of course, someone has to pay for it—and some donors are ready to step up.
Read MoreAs state schools beset by budget cuts increasingly turn to private philanthropy, a mega-gift to the University of Maryland underscores changes in how public universities are funded.
Read MoreIt's a good thing when socioeconomically diverse kids get into college. But graduating can be the hard part. A recent gift from Hastings—best known for funding charter schools—addresses this challenge.
Read MoreWhen Wall Streeters turn to philanthropy, education is often their top cause. We talk with Steve Klinsky about how he was first drawn into giving for K-12 and why he's now turning his attention to the student debt crisis.
Read MoreA massive "top of the pyramid" give earmarked for scholarships neatly aligns with two of the major giving trends across the higher ed space.
Read MoreUniversities may be under pressure to stem rising tuition, but it's not coming from donors, who keep writing big checks to schools with sky-high costs, as a new $50 million gift reminds us.
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