MOST RECENT
Critical race theory is still drawing some significant support, despite conservative attacks and mischaracterizations. We take a look at Alicia Miñana de Lovelace’s recent gift for critical race studies at UCLA Law.
Based in Texas, the Trellis Foundation is all about boosting the success of low-income students and students of color. We dig into its two-year mental health learning collaborative, programs serving specific student groups and more.
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s latest survey shows that last fiscal year, universities raised the second highest total since CASE started keeping track. We walk through key findings with the report’s author.
Crushing medical school debt has been contributing to a shortage of physicians and steering doctors away from needed but lower-paid specialties. A $1 billion gift will make tuition free at a New York med school.
The Duke Endowment started working with four colleges back in 2013 to support students’ emotional wellbeing. With mental health concerns on the rise among youth, those efforts could serve as a model for other grantmakers.
Established in 2001 by investing legend Gary Brinson, the Chicago-based Brinson Foundation focuses on education and scientific research. We take a closer look at this uniquely transparent and accessible family foundation.
Spelman College and the UNCF received $100 million apiece in recent weeks. We dig into the common ingredients in each donation, and why they’re an encouraging sign for the HBCU field as a whole.
On the heels of Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation, activists are pivoting to hot-button issues like dismantling DEI programs. Major donors have played a key role, and will likely continue to do so.
According to guest author Mike Nylund, scholarships as they’re currently awarded tend to exacerbate inequities in higher ed. His argument: Donors should adopt a sharp focus on students with clear financial need.
Drawing wealth from a successful run as an IBM engineer, Rodney C. Adkins and wife Michelle Adkins are big backers of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, along with universities and STEM education.
The legacy of the late Charlie Munger, second-in-command at Berkshire Hathaway, will be closely connected to that of his business partner. But his philanthropic record was quite different from Warren Buffett’s.
The former Cisco CEO hails from the generation of givers who made their fortunes in tech’s first wave. We dig into his family’s grantmaking and meet the heirs who’ll carry that philanthropy forward.
Affluent donors have threatened to withhold support to protest school administrators’ responses to the Israel-Hamas war, among other related issues. We dig into its potential implications for the field.
While they have a penchant for higher ed mega-gifts, billionaire businessmen Ronnie and Gerald Chan keep things fairly low key with their Morningside Foundation. Here’s a look at the family’s backstory and the brothers’ priorities.
Against the backdrop of rising funder interest and a controversial Supreme Court decision, the big-donor funding collaborative Blue Meridian Partners is tripling its investment in the HBCU Transformation Project.
Across the country, it’s looking as if the days of legacy preferences may be numbered. Will ending the policy hurt revenues, or bring about a welcome change in the higher ed fundraising landscape?
The campaign against affirmative action isn’t a lonely crusade by a committed activist and a band of disgruntled students; it’s an organized effort bankrolled by a powerful network of conservative funders.
Mildred Whittier helped launch Women for Golden Futures, a fundraising effort to support her alma mater Spelman College. We heard from her about the initiative, her history with Spelman, and how HBCUs can pull in more funding.
The longtime American Express chief was one of the first Black CEOs of a Fortune 500 firm. Chenault backs a range of causes alongside his wife Kathryn, with HBCUs and arts and culture looming large.
The Supreme Court decision ending affirmative action sent a shockwave throughout higher ed philanthropy. Leaders in the field offer a to-do list to help fellow funders carry out their missions in this new legal landscape.
HBCUs are poised to become a larger philanthropic cause following the Supreme Court ruling rejecting affirmative action. But for years, Black donors have been among their largest backers. Here are some of the biggest donors.
This basketball and broadcasting star has been supporting higher ed and other causes for years. The Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action ruling influenced one of his biggest commitments to date.
Ronda Stryker and William Johnston are frequent mega-donors with a foundation that’s laser-focused on Kalamazoo, Michigan. Big as the numbers are on paper, there’s reason to think their local support extends far further.
The Russell Sage Foundation's Pipeline Grants Competition, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, promotes the careers of diverse academics who study economic opportunity, equality and social mobility.
Henry and Susan Samueli are continuing their tradition of big giving to UC Irvine. But their support for the school hasn’t always been free of controversy, highlighting concerns over megadonor influence in higher ed.
In February, Jacob Fraire took the helm at this L.A.-based, national higher ed funder. We spoke with Fraire about growing up in a family of migrant farmworkers, his path to college, and the meaning of strategic philanthropy.
The wealth gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” in higher ed continues to grow at an alarming rate. A new book looks at how how trustees at wealthy schools — and their alumni — can reverse the trend.
The megadonor couple just committed $500 million to Stony Brook University in New York. Is this a sign of more huge gifts down the road? And can other states learn from New York’s higher ed endowment matching program?
Does a series of recent awards for climate-related university projects suggest a promising fundraising trend amid a planetary crisis, or is this just a case of more of the same?
One of the founders of the investment giant Carlyle Group, D'Aniello and his wife Gayle have made some big gifts for higher ed, spirituality and Catholic causes, and a leading conservative think tank. Here’s a rundown.