Oregon Public Broadcasting

U.S. colleges and universities set a record in charitable donations in 2008, according to a new report from the Council on Aid to Education. But 2009 looks like a question mark. Glenn Mosley reports.

Charitable contributions to colleges and universities around the country rose 6.2 percent last year, up to a total of $31.6 billion, according to the annual report by the Council on Aid to education in New York.

But, spokesperson Ann Kaplan says 2009 may be a different story.

Ann Kaplan: "We called about twenty institutions, including some of the larger fundraisers who had very good years in fiscal '08, and every single institution we called reported that as of the beginning of 2009, they had seen declines."

The report also said that while giving to the top twenty institutions was up 11.5 percent, giving to all others was down 4.2 percent.

Stanford and Harvard top the list.

Closer to home, The University of Washington is number 18, having raised a total of about $302.7 million. Washington State University raised about $74 million last year, the University of Oregon about $88.5, and the University of Idaho about $19.5 million.

Online:

Council on Aid to Education