Centre College has landed a $20 million gift as part of an ongoing $200 million fundraising campaign that would approach the amount of a single donation the liberal arts college thought it was receiving but ultimately lost out on.
The nearly 1,400-student college in Danville, Kentucky, said Monday that the $20 million gift was given by an anonymous donor. It's the lead gift for the $40 million scholarship program that will support 40 students by the fall of 2019.
Bob Nesmith, Dean of Admissions and Financial aid tells WUKY the money will attract the best and brightest students from all over.
"We are going to travel the country to recruit for this program. The intent of the donors is that this attracts a caliber of student to Centre that will be a top student here and make difference when they leave here, even more than our students already do. It's probably going to take our name into some corners of the country that we're not penetrating already," Nesmith said.
Centre says its fundraising campaign will end in 2019, the 200th anniversary of the school's founding.
The school lost out on a $250 million donation that was withdrawn in 2013. The all-stock gift would have been one of the largest gifts in U.S. higher education history.
