Campaign for USC reaches $5 billion of $6 billion goal


The University has officially crossed the $5 billion threshold of the $6 billion fundraiser that was publicly launched in 2011. According to an annual fundraising report released by the Council for Aid to Education, USC raised more than $653 million for the school last year.

The campaign encompasses a comprehensive strategic planning process and the involvement of all USC constituencies according to Albert Checcio, senior vice president of university advancement.

“We designed a campaign that would touch all parts of the University,” Checcio said. “Every single school would participate in this campaign. So it is very comprehensive.”

Half of the funds, or approximately $3 billion of the money raised, will be used to increase USC’s endowment. These funds will help support faculty and students, along with research, public health services and enhancement of the quality of life around the world.

Two billion dollars of the money that is being dedicated to the endowment will be dedicated to faculty and research programs, The other $1 billion will be devoted to an endowment for student scholarships. The priority of this endowment is additional undergraduate scholarship aid and increasing fellowships for Ph.D., postdoctoral and graduate students.

The rest of the money from the fundraising campaign will provide immediate support for new resources.

Two billion dollars of these funds are for the immediate support of academic priorities. The campaign will help establish new educational programs and nurture the research projects that aim to explore the intersections of technology and communication, extend global connections, foster arts and humanities and enrich the undergraduate and graduate learning experiences.

One billion dollars will be catered toward immediate support for capital projects. One of these capital projects is the USC Village, scheduled to open in Fall 2017. These funds are needed for infrastructure on both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.

“In the campaign, we don’t have priorities; our job is to try to fund them,” Checcio said. “So, the president and deans did a strategic plan and identified a whole series of priorities. These priorities became the programs that we tried to raise money for, through the campaign.”

Fifty-two percent of the raised funds will be for academic priorities, 34 percent for the endowment and 14 percent for capital projects. As of March 4, 296,775 donors have made campaign gifts. A total of $1.4 billion has been raised for faculty and research endowments, $230 million for endowment toward student scholarships and $1.6 billion for health sciences.

“All of the schools have individual goals to try to meet their needs,” Checcio said. “So, when we were setting the goal, we looked at will it take private support to continue USC’s academic ascent and take the University to excellence for the next 10 years and beyond. After looking at the analysis of what the schools need, $6 billion was the number we thought was attainable and would have the biggest impact.”

The alumni have contributed $1.8 billion, and parents have contributed $1.4 billion to the campaign. Also, 262,436 donors have made gifts of less than $1,000. Checcio further mentioned the how important the donations have been to the success of the fundraising initiative.

“The whole University is benefiting dramatically from the private support of this campaign,” Checcio said.

Daniel Hennes, a freshman majoring in business administration, said that the increase in funding will help make the University a better place.

“The recent fundraising campaign speaks not only to the administration’s commitment to make the University a better place for its students, but also to the passion and willingness of the Trojan Family to give back,” Hennes said. “USC is a place that wants to remain cutting-edge and this fundraising campaign is a great way to do that.”

Juan Martinez, a junior majoring in civil engineering, did not immediately laud the administration’s efforts, pointing to the fact that many students do not know where the money is going.

“Many of us probably won’t — we already feel tuition hikes, but hopefully it’ll benefit the university in some way,” Martinez said. “It’s just hard to tell when we don’t really know where the money goes.”