Columbia Eyes $4 Billion Capital Campaign
Posted on May 22nd, 2006
(Source: Columbia University)
When is $5 billion in the bank not enough? When you're Columbia, evidently.
Sitting on $5.2 billion already, Columbia hopes to raise another $4 billion over seven years in an upcoming campaign. Of course, not all of that $4 billion will be endowed, and most of the university's existing endowment is restricted for specific purposes.
Still, the point is that the rich continue to seek more riches. Columbia has to keep pace with its Ivy brethren and other elites, building the best facilities and attracting the best students and faculty. You certainly can't survive on $5 billion, just like a pro athlete making $10 million a year can't possibly feed his family.
Columbia's campaign will be the largest in the history of higher education. That is, until Harvard gets its act together and hires a permanent president. Then look for the university to announce a campaign even larger than Columbia's. After all, Harvard can't possibly compete with its current $25.5 billion endowment.
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