One year after Duke's Financial Aid Initiative was launched, the campaign has raised $190 million in pledges, officials said this week.
The initiative-announced Dec. 1, 2005-aims to raise $300 million over the course of three years.
"It's making very solid progress," Provost Peter Lange said. "With all the efforts that are being put in, I think we'll hit our target."
Garnering 63 percent of its projected total so far, the FAI has shown steady performance, FAI Director Susan Ross said.
"We are on track, but we're not way ahead of schedule," she said. "In campaigns like this, you have your larger gifts at the beginning."
$100 million of the total amount raised came from the "challenge fund," which matches financial aid donations through the Duke Endowment dollar-for-dollar, Ross said. She added that $30,000 came from contributions by members of the Board of Trustees.
George McLendon, dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, said administrators will continue their efforts to raise funds.
"The glass is more than half full, but there's still a lot of water that needs to go in," he said. "It's just a matter of getting together with people and helping them understand the needs."
In addition to faculty and staff, several students have been active members in soliciting contributions to the FAI.
After kicking off the campaign with a student petition last December, members of the Financial Aid Initiative Student Advisory Council have attended several events with current and potential donors, said senior Ryan Sparrow, co-chair of the committee.
"If you're a prospective donor, and you want to see that you're making a difference, it's so much more meaningful to hear it from a student," he said.
Senior Mary Reid Ervin, the council's other co-chair, said the group's success has sparked ideas of maintaining the committee beyond the FAI's three-year duration.
"It's served as a student voice but also as a motivator for students to see that although students can't contribute financially, they can contribute with heart and determination," she said.
Since the initiative began, 147 new endowed scholarships have been created, Ross said.
She added that only 20 percent of the University's current financial aid budget comes from the endowment, with the remaining 80 percent coming from operating support funds. When the FAI is complete, 50 percent of financial-aid dollars will come from each source, as is the case at Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College and Stanford University.
"We face the difficulty of asking [whether] we want to provide you the very best facilities, the very best faculty and the very best opportunities, or use the exact same dollars to provide you with the most interesting set of classmates," McLendon said. "We want to do both."
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