NYU Sets Record With $3.1-Billion Campaign

After raising $3.075-billion, New York University has claimed the top spot on the list of biggest completed fund-raising campaigns.

But the Violets may not keep that perch for long. Several other universities are in the midst of $3-billion-plus campaigns, and the Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University have each raised more than $3.3-billion in campaigns that remain in progress, according to a Chronicle database.

“The Campaign for NYU,” which had a goal of $2.5-billion, ended on August 31 after seven years. It broke a record held by the University of California at Los Angeles, which raised $3-billion in a campaign that ended in 2005.

Like other colleges that have finished major campaigns, NYU isn’t slowing down its fund raising, despite the troubled economy and Wall Street meltdown. The university is now running a mini-campaign to raise $400-million in five years for financial aid for needy students.

The recently completed “Campaign for NYU” had a goal of raising $625-million for student aid. By the campaign’s end, about 60 percent of that amount — $376-million— had been donated for that cause, according to a university news release. —Kathryn Masterson