IU ranks in national top 20, 4th in Big Ten for private sector donations

IU ranked 19th nationally in 2007 in private-sector support, a drop from its 2006 17th-place ranking, according to rankings released by the Council for Aid to Education last week.\nThe University ranked seventh nationally among public schools and fourth in the Big Ten, keeping with the University’s 18-year hold in the top 10 among public schools and the Big Ten. IU received more than $278 million in 2007 from the private sector.\nNationally, private donations accounted for about 26 percent of all 2007 contributions to higher education institutions.\n“It all comes right back to the facilities you are in, the resources that you’ve got as a student to get through, the quality of faculty that’s there,” said Curt Simic, president of the IU Foundation.\nWhat comes right back to the students and the school, Simic said, are donations in the form of scholarships, buildings and faculty, which provide for top-notch learning environments. One such building is Simon Hall, built partially through private sector support.\n“I would be going to college anyway, but with the aid I will be able to get my master’s in teaching,” said sophomore Jessica Daugherty, a Cox Scholar who benefits, like other scholarship recipients, from private-sector support. The donations come through gifts and non-governmental research grants to IU, said Barbara Coffman, IU Foundation executive director of strategic planning and communications. \n“The University is matching the income on endowment, which is money that we get that we invest in only spending income, so the University is matching 5 percent of anything that comes in,” Simic said, meaning that there will be much more funding for current and future students in terms of scholarships and facilities. \nDaugherty said scholarships provided by the private sector are beneficial to students because they will help students like her, pay for college.\nIU’s continual presence in the top 20 nationally means individuals have more chances to attend the University, should they need aid.\n“Lots of donors like to make gifts for scholarships and fellowships so that other people can have the opportunities that they did to come to IU,” Coffman said.