(Source: University of Virginia)Not to be outdone by private universities, top public institutions are waging fund raising campaigns with staggering goals.



Here's a short list of current public-university campaigns:

University of Michigan, $2.5 billion
UCLA, $2.4 billion
UNC-Chapel Hill, $1.8 billion
University of Wisconsin, $1.5 billion
Michigan State, $1.2 billion
Texas A&M, $1 billion
UC-San Diego, $1 billion
University of Arizona, $1 billion

A generation ago, few public universities had sophisticated fund raising operations like those found at private colleges. After all, alumni knew that state money would take care of alma mater's needs. And if an alum lived in his alma mater's state, he figured his tax dollars in part supported the university.

Fast forward to today. In many states, public funds account for only a small fraction of a public university's income. That's why these institutions have turned to fund raising to survive and thrive. At the University of Virginia, a "public" institution, state funds offset only eight percent of the annual budget. Most of the revenue comes from tuition and fees, endowment returns, and gifts and grants. Sounds like a private university, no?

So UVA has launched a capital campaign seeking (gasp!) $3 billion. Harvard's last campaign, which ended in 1999, tipped the scale at $2.6 billion. Southern Cal's ended in 2002 after pulling in $2.9 billion. Virginia's effort is thus quite ambitious, although the seven-year window (extending to 2011) is somewhat long.

Nonetheless, UVA's president, John Casteen III, remains confident. "In the past," he told the Washington Post, "we have found that the targets actually grow as you move forward, and we expect that to happen this time also. Three billion is a fairly conservative target."

Harvard is due to announce its new campaign soon. America's wealthiest university and fund raising champ will no doubt aim to surpass current campaign goals. Stay tuned.