While substantial college donations from billionaires—often as high as seven or eight figures—make headlines, most alumni gifts are much smaller. And not all alumni choose to reinvest in their alma mater.
According to the 2024 National Alumni RNL survey, 20% of respondents considered their former institution a priority when making a charitable donation. Those who had a satisfying college experience were four times more likely to contribute financially to their alma mater.
The average alumni giving rate during the 2023-2024 academic year was 8.6%, according to data that 394 ranked National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges reported to U.S. News in an annual survey. Some schools reported much higher numbers, with the 20 at the top together seeing a one-year average alumni giving rate of roughly 31%.
Of these 20 colleges, Princeton University in New Jersey had the highest average alumni giving rate for the 2023-2024 academic year: 44.7%. Southern Illinois University Carbondale had the lowest on the list of top 20 at 24.1%, but both the most hard-credit and soft-credit donors, 50,286 and 56,525, respectively.
Read more at U.S. News.
