The Largest Gifts to US Colleges and Universities
A running list of the biggest single donations to US higher education, led by Ken Griffin's $3 billion gift to Carnegie Mellon University.
Updated · 18 gifts
Ken Griffin's $3 billion commitment to Carnegie Mellon University in September 2026 is the largest single gift to a US college or university on record. It passed Michael Bloomberg's $1.8 billion gift to Johns Hopkins, which had held the record since 2018.
The list below ranks the largest gifts WYDE Newsroom has reported on or verified. It updates whenever a new gift is covered.
| # | Donor | Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken Griffin | Carnegie Mellon UniversityNew Miami campus ($2 billion) and Pittsburgh priorities including the School of Computer Science ($1 billion) | $3 billion |
| 2 | Michael Bloomberg | Johns Hopkins UniversityUndergraduate financial aid | $1.8 billion |
| 3 | John and Ann Doerr | Stanford UniversityStanford Doerr School of Sustainability | $1.1 billion |
| 4 | Ruth Gottesman | Albert Einstein College of MedicineFree tuition for medical students | $1 billion |
| 5 | Phil and Penny Knight | University of OregonNew Knight College of Engineering | $1 billion |
| 6 | John Paulson | Hebrew University of JerusalemEngineering, medicine, and trauma recovery, per the university release, with the Mount Scopus campus named The Alina and John Paulson Campus | $250 million |
| 7 | Anonymous donor | Centre CollegeCreates the Centre Forever Fund, which will provide endowed merit- and need-based scholarships and support for academic excellence | $225 million |
| 8 | Harold Hamm | University of OklahomaHealth education and research, the diabetes center, and the health campus that will be renamed for Hamm | $150 million |
| 9 | Larry Gies | Gies College of BusinessMatching pledge to match the next $100 million in qualifying donations to Gies College of Business, potentially generating $200 million | $100 million |
| 10 | Chang K. Park | Michigan Technological UniversityFully fund construction of the Chang K. Park Center for Student Wellness | $55 million |
| 11 | Dudley Mecum II and Harriet Zahn Mecum | Ohio Wesleyan UniversityTrust commitment for an endowment dedicated to faculty compensation and the Mecum College of Arts and Humanities | $40 million |
| 12 | The Bill Gatton Foundation | The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of KentuckyTo transform The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky. Details of the planned improvements and renovations to be announced at an Oct. 29, 2026 celebration. | $30 million |
| 13 | Kinder Foundation | University of MissouriEndowment of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy and an expanded partnership with the University of Oxford | $25 million |
| 14 | R. William (Bill) Cornell Jr. and Chloe T. Cornell | Case Western Reserve UniversitySupport for the Cornell Center and oral healthcare for people with special healthcare needs | $15 million |
| 15 | Michael Jordan | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social WorkExpand the Deloris P. Jordan Global Social Development Innovations Center and the Jordan Institute for Families and fund Master of Social Work scholarships | $10 million |
| 16 | Marymount Education Foundation | Loyola Marymount UniversityEstablish the Marymount Scholars Program, supporting up to 18 new Catholic high school students a year at LMU | $5.6 million |
| 17 | Health Resources and Services Administration | Viterbo UniversityScholarships for Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling students through the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students program | $3.3 million |
| 18 | U.S. Department of Education | Viterbo UniversityTitle III Strengthening Institutions grant for nursing, pre-health, student success and lab upgrades | $2.9 million |
This list covers gifts WYDE Newsroom has reported on or verified against a primary source. It is not a complete census.