Purdue's $2B question: Are you "Ever True"?

Purdue University wants to know if its alumni are "ever true."

A $2 billion fundraising campaign to support students, faculty, academic programs and facilities is underway at Purdue, the university announced at a private ceremony Friday during the President's Council. "Ever True: The Campaign for Purdue University" started its silent phase in 2012 and will wrap up in 2019, the institution's 150th anniversary.

As of July 1, Purdue had raised $900 million, nearly half of its goal, said Amy Noah, vice president for development.

The silent phase "allows an institution to start to build momentum," she said, "to really do some feasibility and to understand the likelihood of a large campaign."

The effort isn't the first for Purdue and it's not the only one taking place in the state. Indiana University made public last month a $2.5 billion campaign that will wrap up in 2020 to celebrate the institution's bicentennial.

Purdue has surpassed its fundraising goal in all three of its multiyear efforts, dating back to 1980. Former university President Martin Jischke launched the most recent and first billion-dollar campaign in 2001, which surpassed its goal by $400 million, according to information from Gregory Kapp, assistant vice president of development operations.

Money is big in higher education. As state funding for higher education continues to decline — funding at Purdue has decreased more than $20 million between 2008-2014 — hikes in tuition rates and catchy campaigns have become the norm. Charitable donations to colleges reached $38 billion in 2014 — an all-time high, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Last year, Purdue raised $343 million in donations, surpassing a previous record set in 2003. But President Mitch Daniels said his university, unlike others, can make the case that money donated will be well spent.

He pointed to Purdue's partnership with Amazon to reduce textbook costs and an agreement with the Board of Trustees to freeze tuition for a fourth consecutive year, up to 2017. The Gallup-Purdue Index, a two-year survey of 60,000 college graduates, aimed to quantify the value of a Purdue education. The first round of data released in 2014 found graduates are more likely than their peers to be engaged in their jobs and satisfied with their personal lives.

"Speaking to an alumni base that remembers its Purdue education as very valuable and, often people will say, life changing, we have every reason — and now we have plenty of evidence — that asking them to help today's young people have that same chance is a very appealing part of our case," Daniels said.

Rusty Rueff, a 1984 and '86 Purdue graduate, said the university is making waves even on the West Coast, where the alum serves on a number of corporate boards and philanthropic organizations. Rueff is a previous donor for whom the Rueff Galleries in the College of Liberal Arts are named.

"They're built on financial stability, they're built on common sense," he said, "and it's pretty obvious that Mitch understands what could happen to a university if they don’t think strategically and smartly for the future."

Still, Gallup's most recent data released last month indicates half of all college graduates "strongly agree" their education was worth the cost. Recent graduates were even less likely to be happy with their investment, although Daniels said Purdue's alumni are better off.

"That’s an age group that paid a lot more for their college and, in some cases, what they were paying for seems to have been watered down," he said. "What we find … is that appreciation for Purdue is substantially stronger among our graduates than among similar schools, generally. So that’s promising when you go out to try to raise a figure like $2 billion."

To reach that goal, however, young donors — the ones least happy with their education and least likely to give — are needed. Less than half of millennials donate to their alma mater, according to a 2014 report by the Millennial Impact Project. More than $21 million was raised in two days through Purdue Day of Giving 2014 and 2015 — two highly socialized, competitive online campaigns aimed at a younger audience.

To capitalize on the demographic, the hashtag #PurdueEverTrue will be used to spread the word on social media and to get students involved in the effort, as well, said Alyssa Beagle, president of the Purdue Foundation Student Board.

"It's really evident that the younger generation is really involved with their social media," she said. "That’s a great way to get to them, so we're hoping to spread the word."

The campaign

$400-$500 million for student support , which could increase the number of scholarships, bump up pay for teaching assistants and help to increase plummeting in-state enrollment.

, which could increase the number of scholarships, bump up pay for teaching assistants and help to increase plummeting in-state enrollment. $400-$500 million for faculty to fund a 50 percent increase in the number of endowed professorships, headships and deanships.

to fund a 50 percent increase in the number of endowed professorships, headships and deanships. $400-$500 million for research , including Discovery Park's "Pillars of Life Sciences" initiative, focused on neurosciences and immunology, inflammation and infectious disease, and aimed at raising Purdue's profile in the discipline.

, including Discovery Park's "Pillars of Life Sciences" initiative, focused on neurosciences and immunology, inflammation and infectious disease, and aimed at raising Purdue's profile in the discipline. $300-$400 million for facilities and renovations , including the College of Engineering, Wilmeth Active Learning Center, Ag and Life Sciences Building and Honors College and Residences.

, including the College of Engineering, Wilmeth Active Learning Center, Ag and Life Sciences Building and Honors College and Residences. $300-$400 million in unrestricted funds for use at the university's discretion.

How to donate

To participate in "Ever True: The Campaign for Purdue University," visit purdue.edu/evertrue or connect with #PurdueEverTrue on social media.