Hi, I’m Katie, a recent IU graduate (woop woop!) and there’s a lot about IUB that I didn’t learn until after graduation and I believe most of you are in the dark too, like I was.
There are minors I should have taken, clubs I should have joined, people I should have stayed away from, and ideas about what my tuition was covering that were just plain wrong. Now, most of those things we all think about, because hind sight is 20/20, but just how wrong I was about what my tuition was covering has really been a shock to learn.
Since graduating, I’ve been amazed to find out that student tuition does not pay for many of the spaces, places, and programs at IUB. For instance, the beautiful yet ever changing flowers that cover this campus, guess what, are not paid for with tuition dollars. Who knew?
College is expensive. When you total tuition, mandatory fees, textbooks, living expenses, and, of course, maintaining a social life, there is little money to save for those looming loans. However, there is a silver lining. The only problem is many students are not made aware of this while they are attending IU. Each year, thousands of loyal IU alumni and friends donate to IU.
Philanthropy and Giving at IUIn 2012, over 100,000 people supported Indiana University through large and small gifts. Alumni such as Bart Kaufman and Andy Mohr saw the need for new facilities and gave IU the funds to create the new baseball and softball fields. Other alumni, parents, friends of IU, faculty and students support IUB through smaller gifts that make a huge difference to the students on this campus.
I didn’t realize people actually donated to IU when I was taking classes! I thought wealthy people donated a lot of money to have buildings named after them and that was it. It wasn’t until I graduated that I saw another world that exists only to support IU.
Donations help to pay for student scholarships and financial aid, maintenance of facilities, academic operations support, program support, faculty support and research, and activities and events. The flowers by Sample Gates, IU Cinema, classroom equipment, and much, much more than what this post is going to allow me to cover, are all paid for by donations.
As a student, I remember looking at the construction and improvement of academic buildings all over campus and being slightly bitter thinking that all of my tuition dollars were paying for it. I now know that without this amazing and generous support, the IU experience and quality of education that I received would be drastically reduced.
So, through a series of posts, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned and hopefully you’ll start to look at campus through different eyes. Check back with me every now and then and you’ll be surprised what you might find out!