A mission to include mass higher education and outreach makes the University of Massachusetts at Amherst a rather different institution from Oxford or Harvard. But its University Scholars programme allows it to bring in high-achieving students while maintaining its commitment to a broad social base.
The programme, which was created three years ago, offers an $8,000 (Pounds 5,297) a year scholarship, sufficient to cover annual fees of just over $5,200 and the bulk of living costs, to those graduating first or second in their class from state schools in Massachusetts. Last year 150 students were awarded scholarships worth $1.2 million.
Diane Dukette, assistant vice-chancellor for advancement at Amherst, the largest of the university's five campuses, said it was money well spent:
"It has raised academic excellence in the university and made students in schools across the state much more aware of us."
It is also the sort of initiative that has motivated the university's move into more aggressive private fundraising in recent years.
Tom Schneeweis, professor of finance, said: "If you can raise outside funds you can play at a certain level; if you can't you are stuck lower down."
While the university still draws about 40 per cent of its budget from the state of Massachusetts, it cannot look to this source for much more. But increased fees are not the answer - in-state fees have dropped 5.8 per cent in the past five years, with inflation over the same period at 11.8 per cent.
Since the Amherst campus began its dedicated funding drive five years ago, the total raised has risen from $13 million to $25 million, an amount Ms Dukette plans to double again over the next six years. It faces fierce competition - Massachusetts has more than 100 private universities.
For the past three years, a foundations specialist has been employed. The number of donor foundations is growing, but several will not fund tax-supported, governmental or public institutions.
The university has 180,000 living alumni, who account for about 70 per cent of fundraising income.