Public Colleges Lift the Bar on Fundraising Campaigns

Public U.S. colleges are growing more ambitious in the philanthropy race.

A $4 billion fundraising campaign unveiled last week at Texas A&M University ranks as one of the largest ever, as top public schools try to offset declining state and federal funding and stay competitive with private counterparts with longer track records of tapping donations.

Texas A&M trails only the University of California Los Angeles, which is seeking $4.2 billion, and matches a drive at the University of Michigan, according to the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, a membership organization in Washington.