Oxford University Hits 'Daunting' Billion Pound Fundraising Target

Oxford University Raises £1.25 BILLION For Teaching And Research

Oxford University has hit its original target to raise a "daunting" £1.25bn for teaching and research, it was announced on Thursday.

The sum has been reached in less than eight years, the fastest time such an amount has been raised in European university history, Oxford said.

The prestigious institution began its fundraising campaign in 2004 and it was publicly launched in May 2008. In October 2010 Oxford announced it had reached the £1bn mark.

More than half of the money raised (56%) has been given to the central university and 40% was given to individual colleges.

The rest is made up of pending legacies and gifts to the Rhodes Trust educational charity.

The university said that almost half of the funds raised had come from the UK, while the rest is donations from overseas.

Funds have been used to create new buildings and facilities, start scholarship schemes and secure academic posts, Oxford said.

Vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Hamilton said the university was "enormously grateful" to everyone who has supported the campaign.

"When Oxford embarked upon the planning for the campaign in 2004, our aim of raising a minimum of £1.25bn seemed ambitious, and perhaps rather daunting," he said.

"The fact we have been able to pass this target in only seven-and-a-half years is testament to the strength of support for Oxford University around the world.

The announcement comes as Oxford and Cambridge were named "super-brands" in a new set of world rankings. The two elite institutions were placed third and sixth respectively in the Times Higher Education's World Reputation Rankings 2012 which measure universities' prestige among academics.

The UK has 10 universities in the list, second only to the US with 44.

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