The University of Minnesota received $337 million in donations during fiscal year 2017, the second-highest amount in the school’s history, University officials announced early this month.

About $98 million went to student support, officials said. And Friday, University President Eric Kaler spoke publicly about an ongoing initiative to raise $4 billion for research, faculty and student support. 

The rest of the fiscal year 2017 donations went to academic programs, infrastructure improvement and faculty support, among other purposes, according to a Sept. 1 press release from University officials.

“Mr. President’s philanthropy continues to be a strength with the fiscal year 2017, the second highest fundraising year to date,” said Regent Dean Johnson at a Sept. 8 Board of Regents meeting.

Half the funds came from alumni, said Kathleen Schmidlkofer, CEO of the University of Minnesota Foundation. 

The goal of the Driven to Discover campaign, which launched in 2011 and will end in 2021, is to keep the University competitive with other top research institutions, said Nancy Lindahl, a donor and campaign co-chair.