Florida State University announced Friday that it has successfully completed the most ambitious fundraising campaign in university history.

Florida State launched Raise the Torch: The Campaign for Florida State in July 2010 with a goal of raising $1 billion. FSU reached and exceeded that lofty goal with $1,158,665,865 in gifts and pledges received from donors and supporters upon the campaign’s official closing June 30, 2018.



The announcement comes on the heels of FSU’s seven-place climb in the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings released earlier this month. The philanthropic support will help Florida State continue to distinguish itself as a preeminent university and bolster its national profile.

“We are overwhelmed and grateful for such generosity because of the impact it will have on future generations of students and society as a whole,” said FSU President John Thrasher.

The funds raised and committed will create or enhance more than 1,300 student scholarships and benefit the educational pursuits of exceptional scholars from every corner of the state, nation and world.

In addition, nearly 100 professorships were generated or supported as FSU continues to recruit and retain outstanding faculty. That good news follows the largest faculty hiring initiative in university history, as FSU welcomed 240 new faculty members at the start of the fall semester.