MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- A researcher specializing in higher education funding says the $105 million raised during Middle Tennessee State's just completed Centennial Campaign is impressive, but also says the accomplishment is part of a wider national trend.
Dr. Kim Nehls directs the work of the Association for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. She says $105 million is a significant amount for a public school of MTSU’s size, but she says the timing of the campaign was even more impressive.
“They launched it during the Great Recession, and that they were able to accomplish…not only their goal but beyond that and raise an additional $25 million beyond what they declared a goal of.”
Dr. Nehls says public higher education institutions look to donors to fund the kinds of campus facilities and activities that state legislators might be reluctant to pay for. She also notes that the public's purse strings have gotten tighter.
“State funding is declining and that’s true across the board…not just in Tennessee but across the board we’re seeing sweeping reforms and sweeping changes in state funding toward our education, so some of those funds will help offset some of that.”
Nehls says the trend toward public institutions seeking private funding has grown steadily over the past twenty years.
She also says schools like MTSU generally follow up on a successful fundraising campaign, with another fundraising campaign.