The Institute announced today that the Initiative for Caltech Students, its first fundraising campaign focused solely on students, raised $255.5 million from more than 2,700 donors.

The effort, publicly launched in January 2023 with the goal of raising $250 million, ended on March 31, 2025. The generosity of the Institute's donors ensures that the student experience at Caltech complements its rigorous academics. Their support further enables competitive financial aid, flexible research opportunities, enhanced health and wellness services, personalized career advising and mentorship, and a range of co-curricular programs and opportunities beyond the classroom and lab.

"This milestone reflects our community’s shared commitment to ensuring that the Institute’s students have the resources they need to thrive—academically, professionally, and personally," says Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum, professor of physics and Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair. "I am grateful to each and every campaign donor who has invested in the future leaders of science and engineering."

Of the $255.5 million in cash and pledges raised by the campaign, more than $112 million was directed to graduate fellowships; over $108 million funded scholarships; and nearly $35 million supported career advising, health and wellness, and the co-curricular experience.

"This campaign has strengthened the student experience in lasting ways," says David Thompson (MS ’78), chair of the Caltech Board of Trustees. "Because of our donors’ generosity, Caltech students—now and in the future—have access to a world-class education enriched by outstanding health resources and career support within a lively campus community."

The initiative serves as a meaningful marker along a longer path—one that reflects Caltech’s ongoing investment in its students. The initiative followed the $3.4-billion Break Through: The Caltech Campaign, which concluded in 2021 and raised more than $415 million for scholarships and fellowships.

Caltech’s enduring strength lies in its ability to attract and support exceptional thinkers who advance its legacy of discovery and innovation. To ensure that all gifted students can access a Caltech education, the Institute is committed to removing financial barriers—and philanthropy plays an important role in this effort. Thanks to donor support, more than 75 percent of the undergraduate class of 2024 graduated debt-free, and their average loan debt was about $16,000, well below the national average of $33,800 for private nonprofit four-year institutions.

Approximately 60 percent of dollars raised in this initiative benefited the Institute's endowment. Caltech seeks to continue to grow its endowment so that, one day, tuition can be eliminated. Even now that the campaign has concluded, the Institute will continue to secure current-use resources to sustain and enhance the student experience, including fundraising for career advising, health and wellness, graduate fellowships, undergraduate scholarships, and vital co-curricular opportunities such as the fine arts, athletics, and student programs and clubs.

As part of the student initiative 1,459 of the Institute's alumni, who represented more than 53 percent of donors to the campaign, donated more than $155 million. Demonstrating the powerful role alumni played in the campaign’s success, Thomas J. Kubr (MS ’89AE/ENG ’90AE) pledged $50 million to help students who might not otherwise be able to attend Caltech. Other notable contributions included $20 million from former Caltech postdoctoral scholars Dr. Jack Yongfeng Zhang and Dr. Mary Zi-ping Luo in support of graduate fellowships (part of a $30 million gift to support the Rudolph A. Marcus Center for Theoretical Chemistry) and $12 million for scholarships from the Warren and Katharine Schlinger Foundation.

In addition, nearly $23 million was donated by the Institute’s faculty and staff, over $5.6 million from parents, and nearly $3,500 from students. More than 700 donations were made by individuals who gave to Caltech for the first time.

"The Initiative for Caltech Students has provided critical resources to ensure a student experience that is connected across the key dimensions of learning, research, and residential life, while also prioritizing well-being, so that our students thrive not only in the lab and the classroom, but across all dimensions of their time on campus," says Kevin Gilmartin, vice president and Allen V.C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair of student affairs and the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English. "While we have competitors among peer institutions in attracting the most talented students, we also know that Caltech offers an unparalleled research and learning experience. This initiative underscores our commitment to creating and supporting an environment that realizes the full promise of a Caltech education."

To learn more about our donors and the impact of their gifts, please visit https://initiativeforstudents.caltech.edu/story-listings/.