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CU Announces $1.5 Billion Fundraising Campaign

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is one of four campuses that will benefit from the $1.5 billion campaign.
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is one of four campuses that will benefit from the $1.5 billion campaign.

The University of Colorado is launching what it’s calling the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the school’s history.

Called Creating Futures, the $1.5 billion campaign would raise money for things like scholarships, building and program enhancements, and research support. CU President Bruce Benson says the university has been working during a silent phase behind the scenes to raise money for the effort, and is already about 60% toward its goal. He says some of the money would go to things the university can’t get state funding for.

“If we want to have the world-class professor, we’re probably going to have to do something other than just let state support bring him in,” he said. “And the same thing with scholarships, the same thing with building buildings.”

But Benson says this campaign won’t make up for steep declines in state funding. That’s because more than 98% of contributions are earmarked by donors for specific areas. And that won’t pay the electricity bill on the university’s four campuses. Operating costs are primarily funded by student tuition and state support.

Benson and his wife, Marcy, will co-chair the Creating Futures Campaign. They oversaw a previous campaign for CU, called Beyond Boundaries, which raised $1 billion for the school between 1997 and 2003.