Aerial view of campus with Williamsport, the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Mountain as a backdrop

Lycoming College celebrates more than $79 million in campaign support

Lycoming College celebrates more than $79 million in campaign support

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The Campaign for a Greater Lycoming was the College’s most ambitious fundraising initiative in its history. With a goal to raise at least $65 million, Lycoming challenged its alumni, parents, and friends to Dare to Dream about creating an even greater institution. The Campaign concluded on June 30, 2019, and at an event held during Homecoming & Family Weekend on October 5, 2019, the College celebrated its extraordinary success, announcing it had exceeded its initial goal with more than $79 million in total support to the Campaign.

Launched in October 2016, the Campaign was undertaken to secure resources that would strengthen Lycoming's capacity to recruit and retain talented and more diverse students, create new academic programs and initiatives to deliver a 21st-century liberal arts and sciences education, and meaningfully invest in the physical campus while deepening its connection with the City of Williamsport.

In total, 12,055 donors participated and made gifts and commitments to the Campaign totaling $75,270,717. In addition, the College secured $3,961,127 in grants from the federal and state governments, directly supporting Campaign priorities including the construction of the Krapf Gateway Center, the new arrival sequence to campus that not only serves as home to the Office of Admissions, the Alumni & Advancement Office, the Center for Enhanced Academic Experiences, and Outdoor Leadership & Education, but bridges the connection of the College to the East End of the city. This combined support surpassed the College's goal, bringing the overall support to the Campaign to $79,231,844.

Lycoming was able to increase scholarship support and introduce new majors and academic programs such as biochemistry, energy studies, entrepreneurship, and neuroscience that address important 21st-century issues while remaining steadfast at providing a high-impact liberal arts and sciences education.

"Tonight, we celebrate a campaign that affirms our commitment to providing an outstanding liberal arts and sciences education to our students," remarked Kent C. Trachte, Ph.D., president of Lycoming College, during the celebration. "We know that the world needs human beings who can exercise imagination, act with empathy, and deploy the ability to think critically. The extraordinary outcomes we’ve witnessed by our students attest to the impact that this Campaign has had and will continue to have on future generations of students and alumni. We believe in the capacities of human beings educated in the liberal arts, and we believe in the potential of those who are educated at Lycoming College."

Lycoming reports that the Class of 2023 has the strongest academic credentials of any incoming class in more than a decade, with 25 percent of students ranking in the top decile of their high school class — six percentage points above average for freshmen classes of the past decade.

The College continues to rise in the U.S. News & World Report National Liberal Arts colleges list, most recently landing at No. 117 in the 2020 ranking — up 47 spots since 2016. Additionally, Lycoming ranks strongly at No. 25 on the U.S. News Social Mobility National Liberal Arts College list, which measures two factors assessing graduation rates of Pell-awarded students.

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