In
the 1970’s, UPS began a remarkable program to support independent
higher education by making a series of gifts of preferred stock and cash
totaling $4.2 million to create an endowment for the Foundation for
Independent Higher Education (FIHE), which merged into CIC in 2010. By
donor designation, the endowment and its grants are dedicated to support
the work of state-based associations that coordinate collaborative
programs and fundraising to benefit member private colleges and
universities.
Early in 1980, the preferred stock held in the fund was
converted into UPS common stock, which was subsequently repurchased by
the company, with the funds creating a general endowment then managed by
the Investment Committee of the FIHE Board and now by the CIC Board. A
$4.2 million investment by UPS has become a fund with a recent market
value of over $42 million and has generated an additional $50 million in
grants to CIC State Councils to support their member colleges and
students through the
UPS Scholarship Program.
In addition to the UPS Scholarship Program, the CIC/UPS
Educational Endowment has provided grants to State Councils for
innovative, collaborative projects within states and for programs
that enhance access and success at private colleges for low-income,
first generation, minority or New American students. Through these grant
programs dedicated to supporting the work of the State Councils, the
CIC/UPS Educational Endowment has had–and will continue to have–a
determinative impact on the advancement of the independent college
sector nationwide.