Harvard Rakes in Another $7 Billion in Record-Breaking Fundraising Haul

Photo via iStock/janniswerner

It’s nice to see one of these scrappy liberal arts schools finally catch a break.

With another two years to go, Harvard University’s latest fundraising drive has raked in $7 billion, the college said Thursday. Launched in 2013 with the goal of reaching $6.5 billion, Harvard’s haul broke the record previously set by Stanford in 2012 for the largest fundraising campaign ever in higher education.

“I am deeply grateful to everyone who has participated in this outstanding effort so far,” President Drew Faust said in a statement in Harvard magazine. “Our aspirations speak to our larger hopes not only for a better Harvard, but also for a better world.’’

Harvard is expected to use the cash to build its $1 billion science and engineering complex in the area along Western Avenue in Allston, known as Barry’s Corner. The announcement comes as federal lawmakers have requested more information about multimillion-dollar donations to high-profile colleges and universities.

Working off Forbes‘ valuation of the team from earlier this year, you could buy the Red Sox three times over with that hefty sum—or the Globe 100 times. You could get another 2,470 at-bats out of Pablo Sandoval. And taking inflation into account, you could build six more Prudential Towers.