Donations hold steady
CASE data cited by Higher Ed Dive indicates donations to colleges have held steady despite broader disruption, suggesting giving remained stable during recent turbulence. (highereddive.com)
Donors gave an estimated $78 billion to United States colleges in fiscal year 2025, up 4% from a year earlier. (case.org) The Council for Advancement and Support of Education said 670 institutions took part in its 2025 Voluntary Support of Education survey, covering gifts raised between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Those schools represent 17% of United States colleges and universities. (case.org) Higher Ed Dive reported the new figures on April 14, 2026, as colleges face enrollment pressure, political scrutiny and federal policy uncertainty. CASE said the increase reflected “continued trust” from donors even as the sector absorbed broader disruption. (highereddive.com, case.org) The headline total does not mean every fundraising measure improved. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that 89% of dollars came from 2% of donors, showing how heavily colleges relied on a small group of major givers. (philanthropy.com) Another warning sign came from endowments, which work like long-term investment pools that colleges use to support scholarships, faculty and operations. New gifts to endowments fell 9.2% in fiscal 2025 to just under $14 billion, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund. (highereddive.com) The new CASE report follows a smaller increase a year earlier. Inside Higher Ed reported that giving rose 3% to $61.5 billion in fiscal 2024 after adjusting for inflation, suggesting donors kept giving through two straight years of turbulence. (insidehighered.com) CASE has run the Voluntary Support of Education survey since 2018 after acquiring it from the Council for Aid to Education, which managed the data series from 1957 through 2017. The organization describes the survey as the longest-running national measure of charitable giving to higher education in the United States. (case.org) The latest numbers leave colleges with a mixed picture: overall giving rose in fiscal 2025, but the gains depended heavily on big donors and did not stop the drop in endowment gifts. (case.org, philanthropy.com, highereddive.com)
