The 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) universities raised nearly $10 million more last year than they did a year earlier, bringing in a combined $52 million from private sources, including alumni and parents of current students.

PASSHE alumni continued to be the schools’ biggest supporters, donating more than $18.3 million to their alma maters last year, about one-third of the total contributed by private individuals, corporations, foundations and other organizations.

Other individual donors contributed about $9.2 million (18 percent) to the PASSHE universities in 2007-08, while corporations contributed $8.8 million (17 percent). Foundations made donations totaling $6.2 million (12 percent) and other organizations combined, about $9 million (17 percent).

In all, about 10 percent of PASSHE university alumni contributed to their alma maters in 2007-08. Among similar type public institutions in the region, about 9 percent of alumni donated to their former schools.

“Private fundraising plays an important role in the operation of public universities, and in helping to keep them affordable,” said Board of Governors Chairman Kenneth M. Jarin. “These donations help to fund campus construction projects, bring in outstanding faculty and, perhaps most important, provide for student scholarships.”

“It is especially gratifying to see the level of support our universities are receiving from their alumni,” said Chancellor John C. Cavanaugh. “Their support is a strong endorsement of the quality of the educational opportunities PASSHE universities provide.”

The majority of the gifts received by the PASSHE universities were designated for specific uses, including student scholarships and to help fund campus construction and renovation projects. About one-fourth were designated to help the universities build their endowments, which have grown by nearly $100 million since 2001-02.

The universities on average each raised about $3.6 million in private funds in 2007-08. That amount is comparable to what similar type universities in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Ohio raised last year.

The fundraising totals represent the amount of private giving to the universities and their respective foundations between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, and do not reflect the effect of the significant economic downtown that occurred across the nation in the second half of 2008. Those figures will be included in the 2008-2009 report.

Now in its 25^th year, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, with more than 112,500 students. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Approximately 405,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.