<p>“You’re right in that those who are satisfied won’t automatically give. <em>But</em> that is true across the board at all schools, and thus on average, it is a fair metric.”</p>
<p><strong>BUZZ</strong> Wrong answer. What about schools with a significantly higher percentage of Pell Grantees, or students that aren’t off that well financially? Or schools that don’t engage in aggressive mailing campaigns to elicit said donations (possibly because they feel they’re able to get sufficient alumni support from a smaller number of wealthy donors)? Also, I’d imagine for schools that have large sports programs that a decent number of people choose to make their contributions to the school through the athletic department. Not only do a some of these contributions go towards scholarships for student-athletes, but maintaining a competitive athletic department goes a long way to giving the school itself a national presence.</p>