The Need for Private Support

Founded by under the leadership of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller with a unique vision of combining outstanding programs in the liberal arts and sciences with professional and conservatory training in the visual and performing arts, Purchase College has become established over the past quarter century as a premier institution for creativity and learning. For several consecutive years, U.S. News and World Report ranked Purchase College among the top public liberal arts colleges in the Northeast, with special citations for the quality of our faculty and selectivity in admission.

Private contributions made to the Purchase College Foundation are critical for the College.

Gifts to Purchase College help

• to maintain our extraordinary academic and cultural programs;
• to provide scholarships to recruit and keep talented, dedicated students;
• and to reward and retain outstanding faculty.

Support from individual donors allows Purchase College to sustain its margin of excellence.

On an operating budget of $32 million, Purchase College is a state-assisted institution. Resources from the State of New York will continue to diminish, while the College becomes more reliant on self generated revenues, including tuition and private support. In 2002-03 the College’s state appropriation represented only 30 percent of our base-operating budget, while tuition, other revenues and fundraising made up 70 percent.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) has awarded Purchase College the prestigious Circle of Excellence Award for Philanthropy for exemplary performance.

At Purchase College, we strive for both quality and access. For the past 25 years, we have admitted all students with the potential to excel—regardless of financial need—in science, humanities, dance, music, theatre arts and film and the visual arts. Learners of all ages find opportunities for a rich variety of courses.

Purchase offers the community a center of culture, with distinctive student and professional performances in The Performing Arts Center and exhibitions in the Richard and Dolly Maass Gallery and the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Whether you choose to make an unrestricted gift through the Annual Fund, join the President’s Club, become a part of the $25 million Campaign for Purchase, or include Purchase College in your financial or estate planning, your gifts will help ensure a dynamic future for Purchase and its students.

If you choose, you may designate your gift for a specific academic discipline, or for another purpose, such as scholarships, faculty development, library or technology. You may also create an endowed fund, or explore naming possibilities. Please contact us for more information.