Private donations to UA exceed $100 million
Taniah Tudor
Issue date: 11/10/08 Section: News
Private donations to the UA reached more than $101.6 million in the 2008 fiscal year, which stretches from July 2007 to June 2008.
At one time states provided 100 percent of the funding for their state universities but it has been declining since "the beginning of state universities," said Brad Choate, vice chancellor of University Advancement.
The UA receives the majority of its operating income from state funding and student tuition, though the university is underfunded by the state, according to the "Funding the Flagship" report. The difference is made up for by tuition increases.
As state funding has continued to drop, tuition has come up, Choate said.
The 2010 Commission was formed by Chancellor John A. White in 2000 and is charged with constructing a plan to use the UA as a tool to bring Arkansas to a higher level of economic and educational achievement by the year 2010.
The amount received in donations for the 2008 fiscal year exceeds the $100 million goal of the 2010 Commission, according to the 2007 "Raising the Bar" report.
Private funds raised can only be used as designated by the donor and not for general operating expenses, according to the "Funding the Flagship" report.
The schools that produce people that go out into the work force into higher paying jobs usually enjoy more philanthropy than schools that do not, Choate said. Donors, not the university, direct how the money is divvied up between the colleges and programs, he said.
The Sam M. Walton College of Business received more than $28 million in private donations during the 2008 fiscal year, the most of all the colleges and programs to receive donations, according to a Daily Headlines article. The second highest was men's athletics with more than $12 million in donations.
"The people making the gifts direct those gifts and that's why you see those differences," Choate said. "People tend to give to what they're interested in. That's their personal decision."
At one time states provided 100 percent of the funding for their state universities but it has been declining since "the beginning of state universities," said Brad Choate, vice chancellor of University Advancement.
The UA receives the majority of its operating income from state funding and student tuition, though the university is underfunded by the state, according to the "Funding the Flagship" report. The difference is made up for by tuition increases.
As state funding has continued to drop, tuition has come up, Choate said.
The 2010 Commission was formed by Chancellor John A. White in 2000 and is charged with constructing a plan to use the UA as a tool to bring Arkansas to a higher level of economic and educational achievement by the year 2010.
The amount received in donations for the 2008 fiscal year exceeds the $100 million goal of the 2010 Commission, according to the 2007 "Raising the Bar" report.
Private funds raised can only be used as designated by the donor and not for general operating expenses, according to the "Funding the Flagship" report.
The schools that produce people that go out into the work force into higher paying jobs usually enjoy more philanthropy than schools that do not, Choate said. Donors, not the university, direct how the money is divvied up between the colleges and programs, he said.
The Sam M. Walton College of Business received more than $28 million in private donations during the 2008 fiscal year, the most of all the colleges and programs to receive donations, according to a Daily Headlines article. The second highest was men's athletics with more than $12 million in donations.
"The people making the gifts direct those gifts and that's why you see those differences," Choate said. "People tend to give to what they're interested in. That's their personal decision."
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