The remainder is made up by the University with tuition and private funding. In addition, the cost of educating students continues to rise while state support declines. Private funding is essential if the University is to continue offering superior academic programs for tomorrow's leaders. The Foundation's Board of Directors is composed of highly successful business, community and educational leaders who volunteer their time to ensure the integrity of all financial decisions. In most cases the donor specifies how he or she would like the gift to be used.
Many contributors choose to support scholarship funds or other causes.
In some cases the donor elects to place the gift in the endowment's unrestricted fund. This gives the Foundation a greater flexibility to help students with worthy programs and improve the educational quality of the institution. The Foundation invests all of the funds it receives. Each year the Foundation appropriates about 5 percent of endowment earnings to the University. The University's president and Board of Trustees are responsible for allocating these funds.