Nearly four years after launching its first major capital campaign, Boston University has reached a milestone — raising $1 billion more than a year earlier than planned.
President Robert Brown told the Globe that he feels “gratified” the school has attained the goal.
“It’s beyond our expectations,” said Brown, who noted it is the first time a university attempted to raise $1 billion in its initial, comprehensive fund-raising drive.
So far, the funds have gone to scholarships, founded two new schools within the university, endowed and renamed the Questrom School of Business, funded 65 professorships, and led to the construction of the Yawkey Center for Student Services.
Boston University has reached the watershed as the nation’s colleges have stepped up fund-raising efforts.
Locally, Boston College reached its fund-raising goal of $1.5 billion in January, following an eight-year effort. The campaign was the largest in BC’s history.
Northeastern is in the midst of its own $1 billion campaign, called “Empower.” Launched in May 2013, it hopes to raise $500 million in philanthropic support and $500 million through government and industry partnerships by 2017. The school announced in September that it raised $81.79 million during the 2014-15 school year, a record single-year total.
And 2½ years into its planned five-year public drive, Harvard University has raised a record $6.5 billion, the Harvard Crimson reported this week.
The original Campaign for BU, started in September of 2012, had a projected five-year life span. When BU raised $888 million by last fall, trustees upped the ante to $1.5 billion and extended that goal to 2019.
Over the course of the campaign, donors have been able to choose where their money goes. They can donate to a specific club or college or contribute to the university endowment, which was $1.58 billion last year. Around 30 percent to 40 percent of the money raised in the campaign has gone into the endowment, Brown said.
About 5 percent of BU’s $220 million in financial aid comes from its endowment, Brown said. He called financial aid “by far our biggest challenge.”
“We have a big hill to climb in terms of having a significant amount of our financial aid come from our endowment,” he said.
Brown said he hopes an increase in giving and a growing endowment will lead to greater financial aid.
He said professorships and scholarships are two of the most important fund-raising areas because they have a “big impact on everyone.”
In addition to the donations, BU students pledged in 2012 to perform 1 million hours of community service by 2017. Brown is expected to announce that they hit that mark, as well.
More than 117,000 donors contributed to BU’s campaign, he said, and more than 12 percent of the funds came from countries outside the country.
“It just shows what’s happening in the community,” he said. “That is, for me, just as gratifying as raising the dollars, because it shows the community is there, real-time.”
While BU did receive some massive donations, like Allen and Kelli Questrom’s $50 million contribution in 2015, a majority of the gifts were smaller.
Brown said the university looks forward to its next goal.
“Instead of this being a finish line, this is a milepost,” he said. “So we just keep running.”
J.D. Capelouto can be reached at jd.capelouto@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jdcapelouto.