The quest to raise $1.75 billion at Vanderbilt by 2010 may soon become a reality.

The capital fund announced in 2003, called Shape the Future, had an
initial goal of $1 billion by 2010, but the university raised close to
$12 million last month alone.

The fast-paced fundraising may still not be enough to keep up in the
competitive world of university capital campaigns, however, as some
peer institutions raised more than $30 million in October alone.

And the endowment per Vanderbilt student remains stagnant compared to other institutions.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Vanderbilt ranks 43
among all universities in endowment per student, boasting only about
$250,000 per student. Other peer institutions, such as Emory, Duke and
Rice claim endowments per student between 50 and 100 percent higher.

“If you look at our endowment among our peer institutions, our
endowment per student is actually low, which hinders our ability to do
things for our students,” said Matthew Wright, vice chancellor for
investments. “The larger the endowment per student, the greater ability
we will have to compete for high-quality students and provide aid to
those students.”

Most of the $3.5 billion endowment remains tied up in investments, but
about 4 percent annually gets released for university expenses. About
70 percent of money released has been earmarked for special programs,
such as scholarships, professorships, department chairs, general
maintenance and specific administrative costs, Wright said.

“Although the endowment funds all types of projects, the major thrust behind the campaign is to benefit students,” he said.