Ensuring Emerson’s Future
Emerson competes for talent, resources, and students with some of the best-funded institutions of higher learning—from the Northeast’s famed Ivy League to private arts, communication, and liberal arts institutions in Boston, New York, and LA. We punch above our weight—but the need is great.
Now is the time to give in support of all those who make Emerson the premier college for the expressive arts, a recognized leader in communication, and a determined advocate of student engagement for a better world.
Investing in Emerson today will secure Emerson’s enduring contribution to moving the world forward and help us achieve and surpass its current potential for years to come.
Our Top Priority: Student Scholarships
We have launched a three-year, $10 million fundraising initiative for student financial aid. Amid a global pandemic and unprecedented economic crisis, our most urgent focus is on helping our current students continue their education at Emerson and helping future students access an Emerson education. Immediate-use multi-year gifts and named scholarship opportunities will empower and sustain current and future Emersonians in ways never before seen by the Emerson community—at a time when it is needed more than ever. With gifts like these, we will be able to expand the reach of an Emerson education and keep our students doing what they do best: creating, innovating, and becoming the unstoppable forces that will change our world for the better.
The Empower Fund
The Empower Fund provides unrestricted and immediate support for the College’s greatest areas of need, including academic programs, scholarships, and financial aid for enrolled students. This unrestricted support helps create unrestricted possibilities, supporting students in all aspects of their Emerson career. It encourages creativity and enables innovation, while strengthening confidence and autonomy. This support also helps increase diversity on campus, retain world-class faculty, fund special student opportunities, and maintain superb resources.
Emerson’s Endowment
In relation to our competitor and similar institutions, Emerson’s endowment remains small, despite steady growth in its value. Raising endowed funds reduces our dependency on tuition for revenues, supporting access and excellence for future Emerson generations.
ENDOWMENT
ENROLLMENT
PER CAPITA ENDOWMENT
EMERSON COLLEGE
$237 million*
4,451
$53,246
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
$1.4 billion
22,850
$61,269
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
$1.1 billion
22,207
$49,533
VASSAR COLLEGE
$1.1 billion
2,441
$450,634
WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
$1.1 billion
3,230
$340,557
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
$705 million
14,318
$49,238
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY
$556.6 million
9,746
$57,110
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY
$476.2 million
9,822
$48,482
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
$406.3 million
9,850
$41,249
THE NEW SCHOOL
$399.3 million
10,499
$38,032
SKIDMORE COLLEGE
$373.9 million
2,663
$140,405
BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC
$356.1 million
6,999
$50,878
ITHACA COLLEGE
$334 million
6,266
$53,303
COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO
$191 million
6,947
$27,493
SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE
$112.7 million
1,670
$67,485
MASS. COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
$14.5 million
2,095
$6,921
*+>$22 million from Marlboro.
**Numbers were pulled from IPEDS in August 2021.