Wharton School Class Gift Sets New Record
Over $1 Million Raised by 98.5 Percent of Class

June 29, 2005 — The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced that the Class of 2005 raised a combined $1,288,267 for their class gift and registered a participation rate of 98.5%. This year’s campaign also experienced the highest number of donors in Wharton Class Gift history, with 962 individuals contributing.

"I congratulate this year's class on their monumental accomplishment in the class gift campaign. Their achievement in setting this quite remarkable record in class giving mirrors the great character they have shared with the School over the last several years. This record will stand as a shining model for classes to follow and the entire alumni community," stated Wharton Dean Patrick Harker.

Associate Dean of External Affairs Steven Oliveira stated, "An impressive new standard has been set by the Class of 2005. Their level of participation is a stunning achievement, while the size of their gift sets the benchmark for business schools and higher education.”

Each year, the School invites alumni to participate in the class gift campaign by providing a challenge gift that gives students incentive to earn additional dollars for the campaign. This year, four challenge donors became involved for a combined contribution of $154,000. The challenge gifts were structured on the basis of participation — with greater student participation generating higher challenge dollars.

Students from 43 countries across the world united in achieving 100 percent pledge participation. This includes 100 percent participation from across the entire Latin American region. Overall, 97 percent of international students gave to the 2005 Wharton Class Gift.

The class gift is unrestricted and goes toward the Wharton Fund. The Wharton Fund is used as a resource to fund high-priority initiatives of the School: it helps rejuvenate the School's advancements in academic programs and student services; it builds competitiveness in attracting the best students and faculty; and it provides the flexibility to pursue new opportunities at the moment they appear. The Wharton Fund also helps to bridge the gap between the actual cost of educating an MBA student at Wharton and the income generated from tuition and endowment. It contributes to the School's highest priorities which include supporting cutting-edge research and remaining at the forefront for academic programming.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized around the world for its academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of business education. Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the nation, Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA, and doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 80,000 worldwide.