What is the BC Annual Fund, and what does it support?
The BC Annual Fund is Boston College's annual giving program, which provides the University with resources that can be used immediately to meet the University's most pressing needs and opportunities. Gifts to the Boston College Fund can impact many areas of the University, but have a critical impact on the University's core priorities: student financial aid, faculty support, expanding knowledge and serving society, and the programs that support the BC experience and its mission as a Jesuit Catholic University. Your gift to the BC Fund might, for example:
- Help to recruit an outstanding teacher and scholar to our faculty
- Provide financial aid to a deserving undergraduate or graduate student
- Support a student volunteer service opportunity
- Fund a research initiative
- Support one of the many extracurricular and cultural activities available to our students
Boston College is clearly among the world's most successful universities. Having advanced to these new heights, we must rise to the challenge of providing our community of scholars with the tools they need to succeed. Your gift to the Boston College Fund ensures our success and allows us to deliver on the promise of "Ever to Excel."
How can my single gift make a difference?
Every gift makes a difference, and the collective gifts of thousands of donors have an enormous impact on BC.
Last year, for example, the University received a total of $3.74 million in gifts of less than $1,000. It would take an additional $75 million in endowment to generate the income equivalent to these gifts. These gifts of $50, $100, $500 have allowed the University to increase financial aid awards, implement need blind admissions, replace beloved retiring faculty with some of the most promising young scholars in the academy, and expand volunteer and service opportunities for our students. Your gifts are hard at work every day at Boston College.
Doesn't tuition cover the cost of a Boston College education?
No. In fact, tuition only covers about "60%" of the full cost of a Boston College education – meaning that even those students paying the full price are not paying the full cost. Gifts to the BC Fund play a very important role in filling the gap.
How about BC's endowment? Can't that help cover educational costs?
Boston College's endowment recently passed the $1 billion mark, thanks in large part to the many generous donors who in the past have created permanently endowed funds.
However, even this sum still leaves us at a significant disadvantage in relation to the schools with whom we are now directly competing for students – for example, endowment per student at Notre Dame is $299,645, at Brown $200,013, and at Duke $193,114, while BC's endowment per student is only $83,963.
Contact the BC Anuual Fund: (888) 752-6438 or bcfund@bc.edu