NKU’s “Further, Faster” campaign secures $84.8 million haul

NKU’s “Further, Faster” campaign secures $84.8 million haul

2022-11-17T12:00:12-05:00November 17th, 2022|Cincinnati, Economy, Education|

Writer: Joshua Andino

2 min read November 2022 — Greater Cincinnati’s third largest regional school, Northern Kentucky University, secured an $84.8 million fundraising haul to support its Success By Design initiative aimed to bolster student programs, enrollment, retention and success.

Having begun raising funds for the campaign in 2014 and announcing it publicly in 2019, the school brought in a record-breaking $84.8 million dollar haul over the course of the campaign, making it the most successful in the university’s history. 

“We are grateful to all the donors, alumni, friends and supporters who gave to the university during the Further, Faster campaign,” NKU President Ashish Vaidya said in a press release. “This campaign has been a tremendous success, impacting every facet of our campus and laying the foundation for a future full of possibilities.”  

The campaign’s initial goal was $75 million – and secured just under an additional 10 million totalling $84,831,967. The funds from 18,446 individual donors will support 137 new endowments, 197 scholarships, 15 new faculty endowments and a number of other grants, programs and improvements throughout NKU. 

NKU, located just south of Downtown Cincinnati across the Ohio River in suburban Highland Heights, provides an education to 16,000 students supported by 2,000 staff and faculty. 

Fundraising campaigns have become increasingly critical across the landscape of higher education, as schools look to combat enrollment declines and expand access to both new and existing student demographics, the result of a long-identified “demographics cliff” that has seen the pool of high school graduates to recruit from increasingly dwindle. 

NKU has leveraged its Success by Design strategic framework, centered around its three pillars of Access, Completion and Career & Community Engagement to avoid enrollment declines. Its graduate studies programs now comprise 20% of total enrollment, and its School Based Scholars initiative allows high school students to earn college credit prior to graduation. The university’s  EDGE program made tuition more affordable for out-of-state students and additional “last-dollar” micro-grants drove an additional 4% increase in retention while helping close achievement gaps. 

Matt Cecil, NKU’s Provost and Executive VP for Academic Affairs said in April they were keeping a close eye on the university’s enrollment, which has mostly held steady. “Many of our on-campus students want a mix of courses. They want to take some courses in person, of course, and we’re glad. We think that’s an important part of an on-campus student’s experience. But there are certain types of courses they can take online and be a residential or on-campus student,” reported Spectrum News.

The initial $75 million goal of the Further, Faster campaign was to raise at least $25 million for each pillar of Success by Design’s strategic pillars, with $22.7 million raised for Access, $28.01 million for Completion, and $34.04 million for Career and Community Engagement 

“These generous investments have helped NKU advance its mission embodied by the three pillars of the Success by Design strategic framework: access, completion, and career and community engagement,” Vaidya said in the release. “Those who supported this campaign are helping to fuel our students, the university and the region as we go further, faster.” 

For more information, visit: 

https://www.nku.edu/

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