Columbia U. Completes $6.1-Billion Campaign

Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University, announced in a letter to alumni on Thursday that the institution had collected $6.1-billion in a seven-year capital campaign that concluded on December 31.

It was the biggest sum raised by an Ivy League institution and the second largest in higher education, behind Stanford University’s $6.2-billion in a campaign that ended in 2011. Harvard University announced a $6.5-billion campaign last fall.

Donations to the Columbia campaign included a $400-million bequest by John W. Kluge, who died in 2010, as well as a $200-million gift from Mortimer B. Zuckerman and $100-million gifts from Henry R. Kravis and Ronald O. Perelman.

According to the letter from Mr. Bollinger, $1-billion will go to student financial aid and $1-billion will pay for capital projects across the university, including Columbia’s new 17-acre campus in West Harlem. The money will also endow 260 professorships.