College giving

The nation's colleges and universities saw a 12 percent decline in gifts for fiscal year 2009, the New York Times reports. Total giving for the year that ended on June 30 was $27.85 billion, said the Council for Aid to Education.

The group, which conducts yearly surveys on support for education, said the drop in support was the sharpest in 53 years.

The survey's sponsor, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, had estimated that giving would be down 3.9 percent for the year. The group's president, John Lippincott, said "the biggest factor in our underestimate appears to be that individual giving was even softer than we thought it would be."

Alumni participation lessened from 11 percent to 10 percent, and the amount contributed by alumni fell 18 percent. Yet corporate giving fell less than 6 percent.

The biggest losers were private liberal arts colleges, reporting a decline of 18.3 percent. Yet donations to endowments, or for property or buildings, fell 25 percent.

Fortunately, giving is cyclical. In the last decade, donations rose an average of 4.1 percent a year. Survey director Ann E. Kaplan told the Times: "If historical patterns hold up, giving will rebound in 2010, and beyond."

This year would be a fine time to support the college of one's choice.