Today, the University relies more than ever on private support to maintain its excellence. But at the same time undergraduate fees almost quadrupled. Support for scholarships and fellowships has a direct impact on helping Cal recruit the best students. However, broad participation is not as strong as at comparable institutions. For example, percentages of alumni who give to their alma mater are Princeton 61 percent, Harvard 45 percent, Caltech 44 percent, MIT 43 percent, Stanford 39 percent, while ours is only 14 percent.
Every gift makes a difference in increasing our participation rate.
Berkeley's endowment base is quite small compared with private universities that have more established traditions of alumni support, such as Ivy League schools. Berkeley Has a Strong History of Philanthropy Private funding has always played a key role at the University. Even during the early stages of its development, Cal benefited from many great philanthropists, including Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Jane Sather, May T. Morrison, A.K.P. Harmon, and Hubert Howe Bancroft, among others. During this period, almost half of the budget came from gifts, grants, and endowment income. In fact, private funds constituted the University's entire budget three times during the first ten years of its founding.