Texas Christian University has had its best year for fundraising, collecting over $1 billion to bring the institution to the next level.

TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini announced this achievement to a crowd of donors, city leaders, and more who had gathered at the Schollmaier Arena last week.

“For all of us, this is a moment to reflect upon the impact of this effort for the future of our university,” Boschini said, according to the Fort Worth Report. “It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this investment.”

TCU’s “Lead On: A Campaign for TCU” initiative, co-chaired by Ronald C. Parker and Dee J. Kelly, Jr., has aimed to drum up philanthropic support to “mobilize a passionate army of ambassadors.”

Over 57,000 donors — roughly 40% of which were TCU alumni — contributed to the campaign. It outlined four goals: elevating TCU’s academic stature, boosting its endowment, enriching the student experience, and fortifying the local workforce.

TCU has reportedly been on an upward trajectory, seeing a 33% growth in applications, a 185% boost to need-based financial aid, now sitting at $123 million, and a 118% surge in its endowment, bringing it to over $2 billion in 2022.

Just last month it broke ground on a new residential complex that will open in 2025, as reported in The Dallas Express. Located behind the Neely School of Business on the southeast corner of Lubbock and Louden Street, the complex will include two new residence halls, a dining hall, and a common area.

The review and ranking website Niche also recently named TCU the No.6 best university in Texas and the No.2 Christian school in the U.S., as reported in The Dallas Express.

“TCU has an incredibly inclusive and supportive community,” read one of the reviews written by a TCU student for Niche’s ranking.

“The school spirit of TCU is unlike any other school,” the student continued. “Students are incredibly proud to be horned frogs and hold lots of school pride. This year, students have been calling TCU an ‘everything school’ because of our success in academics and across all sports.”

To demonstrate the empathetic community spirit nurtured at TCU, Boschini recounted an example of Kevin Chao, a third-year medicine student who came to the aid of an older woman who crashed on I-30 a few weeks ago. He pulled over, gave her first aid, and waited with her until the authorities arrived.

“One of the hallmarks of TCU is that everyone’s connected at every level, and they try to make those connections to try to make the world a better place,” Boschini said. “When could we more need the world to be a better place than now?”