Rutgers achieves $1 billion, 7-year fundraising goal
In a 7 1/2-year endeavor, Rutgers slid into a landmark victory by raising $1,037,056,700 — more than its original goal of $1 billion — for its “Our Rutgers, Our Future” campaign. The announcement was released University-wide on Jan. 22, though the campaign formally ended on Dec. 31.
Of the $1.037 billion, $412.6 million will be allocated to support faculty and research, according to an email sent by Rutgers president Robert L. Barchi. With the $412.6 million, 29 endowed chairs will be created.
$286.1 million will be used for students and learning. Nearly 450 new endowed scholarships and fellowships are part of the cost.
$132.7 million will be funneled into further developing facilities, campuses and buying state-of-the-art equipment.
$101.7 million was raised for the athletics department, according to nj.com.
An estimated $838 million of the $1 billion was raised in cash, according to nj.com. The remaining money was contributed in pledges.
The University also engaged 130,450 donors, where 70,690 were alumni. The biggest donation was a $40.6 million anonymous donation, according to
mycentraljersey.com.
As of June 30, Rutgers’ endowment sat at $918.6 million, up from $783,492,000.
Despite the improvement, Rutgers’ endowment ranking lags compared to its Big Ten counterparts.
Northwestern University takes first place with an endowment of $9.8 billion. Ohio State University follows, with an endowment of $3.1 billion.
Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University, the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign comprise the next six schools with the highest endowments.
Rutgers sits at ninth in terms of highest endowment in the Big Ten Conference, succeeding the University of Maryland’s $874 million endowment.
University officials acknowledged Rutgers’ lag behind other state schools, according to nj.com.
But the campaign was the biggest step taken so far in Rutgers’ nearly 250-year history to join the top tier of state universities.
“Through generous contributions in support of the campaign’s four priorities — faculty and research, students and learning, campuses and facilities and university and community programs — we are poised to move forward as never before,” Barchi said.
