Lilly Foundation Commits Another $138M for Indiana Higher Ed

Few private foundations across the country have made a comparable commitment in size or duration toward improving a single state's ability to participate in a knowledge-based economy as the Lilly Foundation has for Indiana. The latest round, reported in this week's online Chronicle of Higher Education, promises a total of $138 million to match donations received by Indiana's accredited colleges and universities. The pledge of $3.5 million to each institution is open to 38 two-year and four-year schools.

The Chronicle reports that to be eligible for the matching donation from the Lilly Foundation, schools must commit to using the raised funds only to strengthen academic programs. Thirty schools were signed on at press time and each had received $150,000 grants from Lilly to seed their fund raising efforts.

The matching grant challenge is just the most recent effort of the Lilly Foundation to bolster the state's academic and research communities. SSTI's Weekly Digest has reported on several other significant and somewhat unique contributions to Indiana from Lilly: see Digest issues for November 2, 2001 and October 15, 1999.