Voluntary Support of Education: Key Findings from Data Collected for the 2018-19 Academic Fiscal Year for U.S. Higher Education Institutions

This is the second year that the Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) survey--the longest-running and most-comprehensive survey of charitable giving to U.S. higher education institutions--has been under the auspices of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The brief that follows outlines basic findings from the 2019 survey, which covers the fiscal year that, for most institutions, began on July 1, 2018, and ended on June 30, 2019. Some institutions report on different fiscal years. In 2019, 913 institutions provided data to the survey. Of those, 871 replied in 2018 as well, and that cohort is called the core group. Analysis uses both groups. The national estimates are derived by accounting for non-respondents and by observing patterns in the core group. According to the VSE survey, voluntary support of higher education institutions reached $49.60 billion in 2019, a 6.1% increase over 2018 and the highest level ever reported. This is the 10th consecutive year of growth in giving, though the rate of growth slowed and was unevenly distributed by purpose and type of institution. [For the 2017-18 report, see ED611085.]