Oregon State University donors have pushed contributions to $400 million toward a $500 million goal for student success, part of a sweeping $1.75 billion fundraising campaign that has reshaped scholarships, faculty support and campus facilities across Corvallis.
Oregon State publicly launched Believe It on Oct. 14, 2022. The OSU Foundation describes it as the university's second comprehensive fundraising campaign and its largest to date. In a May 2026 campaign update, the foundation reported that student-success giving had reached $400 million toward a $500 million goal. That is a student-success target within the broader $1.75 billion campaign, not the total raised across the campaign. The foundation also reports that more than $17 million has gone to Finish in Four, an initiative providing renewable scholarships for Oregon residents with high financial need to help them bridge the gap to graduation.
Scoville's Tenure Marked by Record Fundraising
Scoville has served as the foundation's president and CEO since January 2020, according to his foundation biography. During his tenure, the organization reports that the market value of its endowment has tripled and that the university's three most recent fundraising years have been its best ever. By 2023, the foundation had crossed $3 billion in cumulative philanthropic giving, with more than $2 billion of that total given during Scoville's time leading the organization, per the foundation's account.
At the time Oregon State announced the second comprehensive campaign, the foundation reported that more than 56,000 people had already made gifts totaling over $1 billion, according to a statement posted on the university's leadership site. Scoville also said the campaign had received more than 1,100 commitments of $100,000 or more, as reported by Oregon State's news office.
Scholarships Support Student Success
The campaign includes support for Finish in Four, an initiative providing renewable scholarships for Oregon residents with high financial need to help them bridge the gap to graduation.
Putting student outcomes in context
The foundation's $21,000 debt figure should not be assumed to use the same definition as state statistics. A 2016 Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission report defined its university graduate-debt measure as average debt for bachelor’s graduates and separately tracked the share who borrowed.
National fundraising figures offer a separate point of comparison: the Council for Advancement and Support of Education reported $58 billion in U.S. higher-education giving for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, down 2.5% from the record high reported in 2022. That annual sector-wide total is distinct from OSU's multiyear campaign goal.
The broader campaign includes faculty support alongside student aid.
Facilities Draw Major Gifts
Donors have also committed $225 million toward three signature facility initiatives: completing Reser Stadium, the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts, and the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, according to the foundation's leadership page. Those projects are now completed or under construction.
Honoring the Region's Philanthropists
The Association of Fundraising Professionals Oregon & SW Washington Chapter's National Philanthropy Day Awards recognize philanthropy and volunteer service.
The 2019 honorees included Karen and Sid DeBoer, recipients of the Vollum Award, and Marc Grignon, recipient of the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award. B’nai B’rith Men’s Camp Association received the Outstanding Volunteer Group Award. The Believe It campaign continues advancing what it describes as Oregon State's highest strategic priorities.
