Iowa State University has announced an $800 million comprehensive fund-raising campaign to assist with raising private money to meet the school’s highest-priority goals.

“Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose” will help provide the “margin of excellence” funding to provide opportunities that only private support can achieve, according to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy.

Collaborative strategic planning and suggestions from faculty and students at ISU helped determine the campaign priorities. Four major categories will be addressed: student support ($235 million for merit and need-based scholarships), faculty support ($215 million for endowed chairs, professorships and fellowships), program support ($195 million for academic and out-of-classroom programs) and facility support ($155 million for academic and athletics building and renovation projects).

Universities typically begin raising a significant portion of the money before announcing fund-raising campaigns. Iowa State began raising funds on July 1, 2003, and the campaign is scheduled to end Dec. 31, 2010. The campaign has already received $508 million from almost 100,000 donors, already surpassing the $458 million raised through ISU’s previous campaign, which closed in 2000. To date, 433 new scholarships have been created through the new fund-raising campaign.