The author discusses the results of an annual "Voluntary Support of Education" survey by the Council for Aid to Education. According to the report, after two lackluster years, donations to U.S. colleges and universities rose last year by a healthy 8.2 percent, to an estimated $30.3-billion. The total raised comes close to the amount seen in 2008, the best year ever for giving to colleges. But most of the money went to just 25 percent of the institutions. And while those saw donations soar by 11.3 percent, the other three-quarters of institutions attracted 9.6 percent less money over all in 2011 than they had in 2010, the report says. The figures come from the council's annual survey, which counts individual donations as well as giving by companies and foundations. Foundation gifts account for the largest share of the 2011 total--almost 29 percent, or $8.7-billion--but rose only 3.3 percent from the previous year. Corporate donations, which increased by 6.1 percent to $5-billion, represented nearly 17 percent of the total. Meanwhile, giving by alumni rose almost 10 percent, to $7.8-billion, or just under 26 percent of the overall amount. And gifts from other individuals shot up almost 15 percent, to almost $5.7-billion--approaching a fifth of total donations.