IU moves to 11th in donations nationwide

IU ranked 11th in Total Voluntary Support among all U.S. colleges and universities for the 2008 fiscal year, according to an annual survey conducted by the Council for Aid to Education.

With $408.62 million collected in gifts, IU moved up to second in the Big Ten and third among public universities.

Last year, IU ranked 19th nationally, seventh against all public universities and fourth in the Big Ten, said Barbara Coffman, executive director for strategic planning and communications at the IU Foundation.

“IU had a near- record year in non-governmental grants and a record year at Riley Hospital,” Gene Tempel, president of IU Foundation, said.

These record numbers are reflected in the 47 percent increase in IU’s Total Voluntary Support from fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2008, which marks the largest growth of any school in the top 20. The 2008 fiscal year, which ended July 30, closed before the worst of the recent decline in the stock market took place, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.

“The increase reflects IU’s operations in more normal economic times,” MacIntyre said. “We can’t expect to do as well next year due to the recession.”

Funds included in the Total Voluntary Support comprise private sector grants and non-governmental research grants given to an institution, Coffman said. For IU, that includes gifts to the IU Foundation, gifts to Riley Hospital and non-governmental research grants.

The survey, which includes about 1,000 universities, has listed IU in the top 20 for 17 of the last 19 years, Coffman said.

Three significant gifts helped IU achieve higher rankings for the 2008 fiscal year.

The Lilly Endowment gave two large gifts: one of $44 million to the IU Jacobs School of Music and one of $25 million to the IU Maurer School of Law, Coffman said.

The third, a $77 million estate gift, was made by Jesse and Beulah Cox to be used for scholarships, Coffman said. The Coxes attended IU-Bloomington while working their way through school and requested the scholarships be awarded to students also working to pay for their own educations, Tempel said.

“They believed in what that work experience taught them,” he said.

Two-thirds of the gift is reserved for Bloomington students, and the other third is reserved for IU-Purdue University Indianapolis students, Coffman said.

The gift created the largest scholarship program at IU-Bloomington and IUPUI for students working to attend school, Tempel said.

Funds from voluntary support go into preparing students for the future, and, in turn, students affect the larger community, Tempel said.

“When you’re ranked nationally like this, it attracts students and faculty,” he said. “It gives people confidence that the institution is well regarded.”

Tempel said he thinks the survey helps institutions ask questions about how they can improve.

“People want to know how they benchmark themselves compared to other institutions,” Tempel said.

MacIntyre said IU alumni and friends support the University.

“There are so many people that love IU and are willing to donate to the school,” he said. “IU enjoys a high level of support, and that’s the single most significant thing you can take from this report.”