These 30 American Colleges Are The Best At Getting And Spending Donation Money

Some colleges are incredibly wealthy, while others have to spend carefully. Of their revenue streams, donations, in particular, are a hugely insightful way of assessing what a college is all about. Looking at where a college receives donations from and why can tell you a lot about the school overall. And seeing what a college spends this money on reveals even more about the place you might attend for four or more years. Many people that donate to a college are alumni, have professional interests with the college or have been wowed by the college’s graduates. They give their money to colleges because they believe the institutions will use it well. And this article identifies the colleges that get the most of this money and spend it in the best possible ways.

Going to a college with financial support from a range of backers has obvious advantages. The money that they receive goes into new buildings, equipment and all sorts of services that make the college better. But it’s not just having the money; it’s knowing what to do with it. For that reason, we’ve constructed this article to be something other than just any other list of colleges that have received huge investments. Instead, we’ve highlighted colleges that have received significant donation money and have demonstrated that they’re putting the money towards something that is beneficial to students.

Who knows, one day, when you’re earning lots of money thanks to your degree, you could be in the position to donate to a college and support the next generation of learners. It might sound far-fetched, but many of the people who donate to colleges nowadays never thought they’d be able to give the vast sums that they do.

The information in this article can help with your overall college decision. You’re going to be spending a lot of money during your college years. To ensure that this money is well invested, you need to know that your college is spending its money well, too! Even if the colleges below aren’t right for you, this list can still help. You can compare the entries with the donations that your college options have received. If they similarly have people voluntarily giving lots of money, then the colleges are surely worth attending!

Methodology

To determine the colleges that are using their donation money in the best possible ways, we’ve researched many sources. All of these sources are recent and contain the most up to date information available on the internet. The specific sources are:

Inside Higher Ed, Giving to Colleges Rises by 6.3%: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/06/personal-giving-pushes-donations-colleges-and-universities-new-level-2017

US News, 10 Universities Where the Most Alumni Donate: https://wtop.com/news/2018/06/10-universities-where-the-most-alumni-donate-2/

Forbes, 2017 Grateful Grads Index: Top 200 Best-Loved Colleges: https://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2017/08/02/2017-grateful-grads-index-top-200-best-loved-colleges/#21dcc50128e6

The Chronicle of Higher Education, Major Private Gifts to Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Major-Private-Gifts-to-Higher/128264

11 Huge Gifts Made to Universities by the Super-Rich Over the Past Decade: https://www.thestreet.com/story/13230945/1/11-huge-gifts-made-to-universities-by-the-super-rich-over-the-past-decade.html

The information below compiles a range of information in the sources above, so that you don’t have to spend hours trawling through them. Additionally, to make sure that our article is accurate, we’ve performed our own research into the colleges and looked at statements at what has happened with the monetary donations. Our overall ranking is placed by evidence of the donation having an impact, size of entire donation, alumni donation amount and innovative use of the donation money.

Our results, from 30 to one, are below:

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By BVS Staff

July 2020