Alumni donations to U.S. colleges and universities increased 11.9% last year, a rebound from the sharp declines of the previous year, a survey reports today.

But overall, voluntary support of higher education, which also includes gifts from corporations, foundations and other individuals and organizations, remained at $23.9 billion in 2003, the same amount as was raised a year earlier.

That stability is an improvement over 2002, when the amount declined for the first time in 14 years, says Ann Kaplan, director of the survey, conducted annually by the non-profit Rand Corp.'s Council for Aid to Education.

"Overall these results are positive ... because the downturn in giving to higher education did not persist," Kaplan says. "But the future is still uncertain."

Some fundraisers were more optimistic, noting that the economy and stock market underperformed for much of the period, the 12 months that ended June 30.

"These data suggest that historical trends continue to hold true: Giving grows in a strong economy and stabilizes in a weak one," says John Lippincott, interim president of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. "If those trends continue, we would expect to see an upturn in giving for the current fiscal year."

The study analyzed donations at about 1,000 colleges and universities that receive 85% of voluntary support to colleges and universities annually.

Voluntary giving accounts for about 8% of expenditures, although it plays a larger role at some schools than others, the study says. Private liberal arts institutions, for example, raise 22.3% of expenditures from voluntary giving.

Historically, alumni and foundations have been the biggest sources of giving. Last year, foundations surpassed alumni for the first time in 25 years. This year, alumni and foundations each gave $6.6 billion, or 27.6% of total voluntary giving. Foundation support increased 4.8% during 2003. Increases from alumni and foundation were offset by a 15.7% drop in donations from non-alumni individuals, the steepest decline in at least three decades, the survey says.

The value of the average alumni gift increased to $965, up 9.5%.