Estimated Voluntary Support of Higher Education, by Source and Purpose, FY 2017

Almanac 2018

August 19, 2018

Of the $43.6 billion in voluntary support received by colleges in the 2017 fiscal year, the largest portion, just over 30 percent, came from foundations. Personal giving from alumni increased more over the previous year than did giving from any other group, representing more than a quarter of all donations, while support from corporations declined.

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Source	Amount raised (in millions)	Percentage of total	Change from FY 2016
Alumni	$11,370	26.1%	11.7%
Individuals who are not alumni	$7,860	18.0%	2.0%
Corporations	$6,600	15.1%	-2.4%
Foundations	$13,130	30.1%	2.9%
Other organizations	$4,640	10.6%	0.6%

Purpose	Amount raised (in millions)	Percentage of total	Change from FY 2016
Current operations	$25,800	59.2%	0.1%
Capital purposes	$17,800	40.8%	9.6%
Total voluntary support	$43,600	100.0%	3.7%

Note: Data on private donations for the 2017 fiscal year are based on survey responses from 933 institutions to the Council for Aid to Education’s Voluntary Support of Education survey. The survey tracked gifts that were received, not just promised, during that fiscal year, which ended on June 30, 2017, for most institutions. The donor group “Other organizations” includes donor-advised funds. “Capital purposes” include endowment, property, buildings, equipment, and loan funds. The change from the 2016 fiscal year was calculated after figures for 2016 were adjusted to account for inflation. Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding. More data are available here. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.

Source: Council for Aid to Education