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But that fails to explain why Princeton alumni don’t share this attitude. Princeton is also obscenely rich; in fact, Princeton is actually even wealthier than Harvard, if you look at it on a per-student basis. Yet Princeton has one of the highest alumni giving rates in the world – significantly higher than Harvard’s. Is it just a coincidence that anecdotally, Princeton undergraduates seem happier than Harvard undergraduates?</p>
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No, there are obvious differences in fundraising when it comes to public vs. private schools. Contrasts in alumni giving are most striking when they are evident among peer institutions. Princeton vs. Harvard is a good example. </p>
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No, because it’s hard to see why smaller, isolated schools (e.g. Williams, Dartmouth, Bowdoin) would have particularly outstanding infrastructure. More urban schools (e.g. Columbia, Chicago, MIT) should find it easier to recruit talented development officers, and should be physically much closer to large concentrations of alumni. The isolated schools listed above don’t have these inherent advantages, yet their alumni giving rates (like Princeton’s) are among the highest in the world (50% +).</p>