Around New England

Harvard Raises $9.62 Billion in Capital Campaign

September 20, 2018

Harvard raised $9.62 billion during a recently concluded five-year capital campaign, setting a new record for fund raising by an institution of higher learning and beating its goal by more than $3 billion, according to The Harvard Crimson.

The story in the Harvard Gazette (the university’s official publication) announcing the results of the capital campaign mentions the amount raised ($9.62 billion) in the fourth sentence of the sixth paragraph in a sentence that begins with the word “Of,” 316 words into the article.

That sentence reads:  “Of the $9.62 billion raised spanning all Schools, approximately $1.3 billion will support and expand financial aid.”

University officials were vague about where all the rest of the money is going, but they mentioned unforeseen costs in Harvard’s massive construction of a new campus in Allston and renovations of undergraduate dormitory buildings for sophomores, juniors, and seniors known as “Houses.”

Individual schools within the university will also benefit, they said.

The Harvard Capital Campaign began in 2013 and ended in June 2018.

Harvard University’s endowment was valued at $37.1 billion in 2017, according to Harvard.

This is the first year that the federal government is taxing endowments, under the Trump tax plan. Income from investments of colleges in 2018 is taxable at a rate of 1.4 percent.