US: Slight rise in college donations in 2010

America's colleges and universities received charitable contributions of $28 billion in 2010, an increase of 0.5% from the previous year, according to the annual survey by the Council for Aid to Education, writes Tamar Lewin for The New York Times.

Support for higher education, measured in total dollars, is at the same level now as it was in 2006, the council said. But adjusted for inflation, it was 8% lower last year than in 2006. "We're still not out of the woods," said Ann E Kaplan, director of the council's Voluntary Support of Education survey. "Charitable contributions to education are recovering very slowly."

Stanford raised $599 million from private donors last year, more than any other university. It was followed by Harvard, which raised $597 million, and Johns Hopkins University, which raised $428 million. But all three raised less in 2010 than in 2009, the survey found, as did most of the top 20 institutions. Overall, alumni giving and participation declined last year, while donations from companies and foundations increased modestly.
Full report on The New York Times site