📚 Education

The Largest Gifts to US Colleges and Universities

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a private medical school in New York City, founded in 1953 and now an independent degree-granting institution within the Montefiore Einstein Health System.

The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky

The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky is a 100-acre public garden on the University of Kentucky campus that connects university teaching and research with opportunities for people of all ages to explore Kentucky's natural world.

Belmont University

Belmont University is a university whose Fisher Center was the venue for the CMA's tribute to Dolly Parton on October 21, 2026.

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is a university that operates a School of Dental Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.

Centre College

Centre College is a liberal arts and sciences college that has a 207-year history and is based in Danville, Kentucky.

Coaxial Foundation

Coaxial Foundation is a foundation that Nicola Forrest set up in 2023 to redistribute her wealth, focused on early childhood development, women and First Nations communities.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a book-gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they turn five.

The Dollywood Foundation

The Dollywood Foundation is a 501(c)(3) foundation that leads Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, its flagship initiative.

Farmer Family Foundation

Farmer Family Foundation is a foundation based in Cincinnati that focuses on education, health and community initiatives.

George Washington University

George Washington University is a university that announced in February that it had sold its Virginia campus, without initially naming the buyer.

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech, formally the Georgia Institute of Technology, is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia.

Health Resources and Services Administration

Health Resources and Services Administration is a federal agency that awarded Viterbo University a 3.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem is a university that formally opened its doors in 1925 and is home to over 23,000 students from 90 countries.

Howard G. Buffett Foundation

Howard G.

Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, established in 1876 as the first research university in the United States.

Kinder Foundation

Kinder Foundation is a philanthropic organization based in Houston, chaired by Rich Kinder and led by Nancy Kinder as president and chief executive officer.

Lilly Endowment

Lilly Endowment Inc.

Loyola Marymount University

Loyola Marymount University is a private Catholic university in Los Angeles.

Michigan Technological University

Michigan Technological University is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, whose Board of Trustees approved construction of a new $55 million student wellness center funded by alumnus Chang K.

Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts university that offers more than 70 undergraduate majors from its campus in Delaware, Ohio.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Museum of Art is a nonprofit art museum in Philadelphia that announced a $20 million gift for a new learning and engagement center on October 23, 2026.

Rainier Prep

Rainier Prep is a nonprofit public charter school in Seattle, Washington, that serves grades 5 through 8 on an open-enrollment, full-inclusion model.

Rainier Scholars

Rainier Scholars is a nonprofit education organization that offers students a pathway to college graduation and career success.

RAISE US

RAISE US is a nonpartisan national nonprofit.

Save the Children

Save the Children is an international nonprofit that gives children in the United States and around the world a healthy start, the opportunity to learn, and protection from harm.

Stanford University

Stanford University is a private research university in Stanford, California, founded in 1885.

UC San Diego

UC San Diego is a university in La Jolla, California.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work is a public university school that trains social workers and runs research centers on families and global social development.

UNICEF

UNICEF is an agency of the United Nations that provides humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide.

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky is a university that describes itself as the state's flagship, land-grant institution, with 200 academic programs.

University of Missouri

University of Missouri is a public land-grant university in Columbia, Missouri, known as Mizzou.

University of Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma is a public university whose health campus in Oklahoma City trains most of the state's health care workforce.

University of Oregon

University of Oregon is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon.

University of Vermont

University of Vermont is a public research university in Burlington, Vermont that earned top-tier R1 research status in 2025.

U.S. Department of Education

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Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee.

Viterbo University

Viterbo University is a university in La Crosse, Wisconsin that reported 68.

Yale University

Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut.

Chang K. Park

Michigan Tech alumnus whose $55 million gift funds the university's new student wellness center

David Ross

President and CEO of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology

Deloris P. Jordan

Mother of Michael Jordan and longtime supporter of the UNC School of Social Work

Dolly Parton

Founder of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Dudley Mecum II and Harriet Zahn Mecum

Ohio Wesleyan alumnus and his wife who provided a $40 million trust commitment for faculty pay

Eddie Lincoln

Chief Executive Officer of Rainier Scholars

Eli Capilouto

President of the University of Kentucky

Eric W. Kaler

President of Case Western Reserve University

Farnam Jahanian

President of Carnegie Mellon University.

Howard Buffett

Chairman of the board, Berkshire Hathaway

John and Ann Doerr

Venture capitalist and philanthropists who funded the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

John Karl Scholz

President, University of Oregon

John Paulson

Investor and philanthropist who gave $250 million to Hebrew University in October 2026

Jonathan Levin

President, Stanford University

José H. Gomez

Archbishop of Los Angeles

Joseph Harroz Jr.

President, University of Oklahoma

Lois G. and Julian A. Brodsky

Comcast co-founder and longtime Philadelphia Museum of Art donors

Karen Lobos

Executive Director of Rainier Prep, a public charter school in Seattle

Ken Griffin

Founder and chief executive of Citadel, and the donor behind the largest gift to a US college or university on record.

Linda E. McMahon

Secretary of Education, U.S. Department of Education

Marlene Tromp

President, University of Vermont

Matt vandenBerg

President of Ohio Wesleyan University

Michael Bloomberg

Businessman, philanthropist and former mayor of New York City

Michael Jordan

Basketball legend and UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus who gave $10 million to the School of Social Work

Phil and Penny Knight

Nike co-founder and philanthropists

Ramona Denby-Brinson

Dean, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work

Rich Kinder

Chairman, Kinder Foundation

Richard Trietley

President, Viterbo University

Robyn Jones

Founding executive director of the Marymount Education Foundation

Ronald J. Daniels

President of Johns Hopkins University

Ruth Gottesman

Educator and board chair of Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Shakira

Colombian singer-songwriter and record producer

Stephen Schwarzman

Chairman and CEO of Blackstone Inc.

Tamir Sheafer

President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Thomas Poon

President of Loyola Marymount University

Tonya Wagner

Executive vice president of academic affairs and enrollment at Viterbo University

Yaron Tomer

Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean, Albert Einstein College of Medicine