(Excerpts from Higher Ed News)

• Charitable giving to U.S. colleges and universities increased by nearly 7 percent in fiscal year 2021, according to the latest Voluntary Support of Education survey by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

• Total giving to U.S. institutions grew to $52.9 billion, up from $49.5 billion the year prior—a 5.1 percent increase after adjusting for inflation.

• They survey, released Wednesday, includes information about charitable gifts and grants to higher education institutions from private sources during fiscal year 2021, which began on July 1, 2020, and ended on June 30, 2021.

• Combined, donations from foundations and alumni accounted for 56.3 percent of higher ed giving in fiscal 2021. Alumni donations rose by 10.8 percent.

• Unrestricted gifts—which make up about 7 percent of total giving—rose by 30 percent in fiscal 2021.

• The unprecedented growth in this category is likely due to the large, no-strings-attached donations from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Scott donated nearly $7 billion to nonprofits and higher education institutions—including historically Black colleges and universities, community colleges, and tribal colleges—in 2020 and 2021, though it’s not clear exactly how much of that was counted in this year’s survey. The money was unrestricted, and institutions could spend it as they saw fit.