Endowing the Future

Enlightenment and intellectual freedom have a price, like everything else. It will cost $4.6 billion to run the University of California this year, and $787 million to keep Stanford University going. For both public and private campuses, contributions are essential to offset the cost of higher education and draw intellectual talent to the state. The ambitious fund-raising drives of two Southern California universities, one private, one public, demonstrate what it takes to maintain educational preeminence and meet the challenges of the future.

The University of Southern California’s campaign has set as its goal $550 million to underpin its growth as a premier research and general education institution. Some of the money would be used to raise USC’s present endowment of $355 million to $580 million. Income from the endowment will be used to finance research and provide financial aid for students. Forty-nine endowed professorships, 10 of which will be in the College of Letters and Sciences, will be created with $75 million. Nearly $200 million will be used for new construction, including a state-of-the-art teaching library at a cost of $25 million.

UCLA has its own fund-raising effort under way, seeking $300 million over the next five years, a sign of the growing importance of private support for public institutions. No longer do public colleges and universities seek private donations simply for gymnasiums and music centers, but for salaries, research and construction. Indeed, only one-third of the Westwood campus’s funds come from the state. UCLA will use the new money to increase its endowed professorships from 50 to 80, increase funding for student financial aid and research, and expand campus construction. Since the drive began, UCLA has more than doubled its endowment of $120 million, and received a single gift of $13 million from International Business Machines.

The demands for educated leaders of a rapidly changing economy place a greater burden on all of California’s institutions of higher learning to provide educated, well-rounded and flexible students. The burgeoning cost of higher education in times of dwindling federal resources places a greater burden on private supporters to foot the bill. Academic excellence isn’t cheap, and only with private support will California’s be maintained.