After two years without growth, charitable contributions to U.S. colleges and universities rose 3.4 percent last year to a record $24.4 billion, according to a report released Wednesday.

The increase was driven by a 9.7 percent increase in giving from individual donors, including a 21.5 percent surge in giving by non-alumni individuals. That offset a 6.1 percent decline in giving by foundations.

Among alumni, total giving rose slightly, but the percentage of alumni donating fell, as it has every year since 2001.

Harvard University led the list by raising $540 million, according to the latest annual survey by the Council for Aid to Education, a unit of the RAND Corporation. The University of Pennsylvania was fourth, with $332.8 million. UCLA, 10th overall, raised the most of any public university - $262 million.

Overall, alumni donations last year accounted for 28 percent of university giving, non-alumni individuals 21 percent, corporations 18 percent and foundations 25 percent. Foundations generally ramp up giving more slowly than individuals when the economy recovers, as it has in the last two years.

The remaining 8 percent was contributed by religious and other organizations.

Though the increase in overall contributions barely outpaced inflation, survey director Ann Kaplan of CAE called the results "not too bad," considering the decline in foundation grants, which she expects to turn around.

The overall increase followed zero growth in 2003, and a decline in 2002 - the first since 1988.

Kaplan credited a stronger economy and more effective fund-raising efforts.

"Fund-raising behavior has a strong effect," she said. "The number one reason people make gifts is being asked. Without that, the economy's not going to have much of an effect on giving."

Perhaps the best news for colleges and universities was the 21.5 percent increase in gifts from non-alumni donors - often parents of alumni, community members or donors who want to back specific research. The increase suggests schools are succeeding in expanding their donor pools.

But while total alumni giving rose 2 percent to $6.7 billion, the percentage of alumni donating fell to 12.8 percent, which has steadily dropped since it was 13.8 percent in 2001.

Kaplan said that may be because colleges are keeping better records and now simply have more alumni to target who figure into the calculation.

But she said they may also be focused on securing larger donations from major donors rather than on getting a broad base of alumni in the habit of giving, even small amounts. If that's the case, the strategy could negatively affect future fund raising.

"Alumni who make small gifts tend to be the people who end up making large gifts," she said.

The Voluntary Support of Education Survey was based on replies from 971 institutions, a group that accounts for about 85 percent of voluntary support raised by colleges and universities.

Charitable contributions to Pennsylvania colleges and universities for 2004:University of Pennsylvania: 332,829,949Pennsylvania State University: $148,463,526University of Pittsburgh: $94,875,447Carnegie Mellon University: $56,962,393Drexel University: $38,128,931Lehigh University: 37,490,182Temple University: $29,890,628Gettysburg College: $27,325,699Villanova University: $22,260,894Swarthmore College: $22,025,067Bryn Mawr College: $21,803,619Bucknell University: $20,288,605Lafayette College: $15,618,479Haverford College: $15,530,714Washington and Jefferson College: $13,318,657Dickinson College: $12,773,998Franklin and Marshall College: $11,335,101Philadelphia University: $9,805,826Duquesne University: $9,609,589Chatham College: $9,062,852Ursinus College: $9,048,860Allegheny College: $8,921,368Susquehanna University: $8,277,077Saint Joseph's University: $6,815,866Widener University: $6,281,425La Salle University: $5,570,172Albright College: $5,561,814Juniata College: $5,227,226Moravian College: $5,173,165Westminster College: $5,032,573University of Scranton: $4,833,295Messiah College: $4,798,499Cedar Crest College: $4,726,457West Chester University of Pennsylvania: $4,238,176Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania: $3,939,983SOURCE: Council for Aid to Education