McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, is one small school that is not going to have to worry about the higher ed bubble. They recently received a massive charitable gift of a billion dollars.
That kind of cash goes a long way for a school with less than a thousand undergrads.
American School & University News reports:
Anonymous donor pledges $1 billion to liberal arts college in KansasMcPherson College in McPherson, Kan., says an anonymous donor has pledged a contribution of $1 billion to the school’s endowment.The college says that the gift will raise the value of its endowment to $1,592,000,000, which the school says will be the largest endowment of any small liberal arts college in the United States.The donor initially promised to give $500 million to McPherson if it was successful in receiving at least $250 million in pledges. After the college met that goal, the donor decided to commit an additional $500 million.“Today is historic, not just for McPherson College, but for all small liberal arts colleges in America,” said McPherson College President Michael Schneider. “I am incredibly grateful to our anonymous donor for giving us an unprecedented opportunity—and responsibility—to build and implement our strategic vision of becoming a destination learning community.”The donor agreement provides the flexibility for the anonymous donor to pay out over time or it is all paid in full upon the donor’s death, which is the latest time at which McPherson College would have access to the anonymous donor’s $1 billion.
The Kansas Reflector has more:
“Now, the work begins to build a bridge to our future endowment,” said Michael Schneider, the college’s president. “We need to carefully plan how the income from the endowment is deployed to reimagine and construct the campus of the future, build a much-needed rural health pipeline in Kansas, create a center for the future of automotive engineering and work to make college more affordable for all our students.”“I am incredibly grateful to our anonymous donor for giving us an unprecedented opportunity — and responsibility — to build and implement our strategic vision of becoming a destination learning community,” he said.Schneider affirmed the initial $500 million double-match had been secured during a meeting with about 200 faculty, staff and others. News of the second $500 million gift from the unnamed donor also was announced Friday in McPherson.
On an interesting side note, McPherson College is the only four-year college that offers a Bachelor of Science degree in automotive restoration.
Check out this video:
Someone certainly likes what this school is doing, that’s for sure.
Featured image via YouTube.
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