Donors Provide Stability At University Of Illinois

As the University of Illinois unveils a multi-year fundraising campaign, administrators say donations play a key role in providing financial stability for the school. 

Paul Ellinger, Associate Chancellor and Vice Provost of Budget and Resource Planning at the state’s flagship university, says news that the university’s healthy endowment helped the Urbana campus weather the recent state budget stalemate. "We know the endowment is there and the earning are going to be coming from that endowment; it allows for some stability in some of the budget sources that we have," Ellinger said.

The university endowment is worth $2.5 billion.  

Ellinger explained that when people donate, it helps students come to campus on scholarships, helps bring cutting edge research to Urbana, and recruits top-notch faculty.

While the University of Illinois will always rely on state funding, Ellinger added that donors help assure U of I students that they’ll receive a good education, even with an uncertain state budget.