By WMBD TV
NORMAL, Ill. (WMBD) — Illinois State University reported they have received a record amount of donations during the 2025-2026 school year.
The university received just more than $52 million worth of private donations. This is a record-breaking number, beating last year’s number. For the past few years, they have exponentially beaten their previous record.
“Six years of year-over-year growth is tremendous,” said Pat Vickerman, vice president of university advancement. “I think it really speaks to the momentum that we’ve created here at the university. People want to invest in success.”
“Illinois State’s very proud of our heritage and being the first public university in the state. But we continue to grow, expand our offering, and be innovative with our programs.”
These donations go toward many things at the university, including improving individual colleges, athletic programs, scholarships and more. The money is already being put to good use, specifically for their new College of Engineering.
“We look forward to opening the doors for the new facility that will open for our engineering students this fall. So absolutely, those funds have been put to work right away. Also, from a scholarship standpoint, we already have engineering scholarships that are coming forward,” Vickerman said.
Vickerman also said that he and the rest of the university are thankful for the generosity of the local community, alumni and current students who donated.
“We’re extraordinarily grateful to all of our alums. They’ve been so dedicated to us. They’re loyal,” he said. “We’ve had a lot to cheer about this year with the success of our athletics program, opening a new College of Engineering, and we continue to grow with our cybersecurity program, data science and new sports communications programs.”
“We’re going to continue to evolve to meet the needs of the state and the interests of the next generation of Redbirds.”
The university’s annual fundraising day “Birds Give Back” was a major contributor to this year’s fundraising success.
WMBD TV first reported this story. You can read the original story online at CIProud.com.
