CHAPEL HILL - UNC-Chapel Hill has wrapped up its eight-year fundraising campaign, reeling in $2.38 billion in donations, the university said Wednesday.

The Carolina First campaign is the fifth-largest completed fundraising drive by a U.S. university, slightly surpassing Duke University's $2.36 billion campaign, which ended in 2003.

"It has been a huge stimulus to create and sustain momentum on this campus," said UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser, who will retire this year and estimates he spent 40 to 60 percent of his time as chancellor on the campaign.

The final gift, which will be announced at a trustee meeting today, was a pledge of $9 million from Fred Eshelman, CEO of Wilmington-based PPD Inc., a global research company. The pledge will go to the School of Pharmacy.

Donations are increasingly important to public universities, which compete head to head for students and faculty with private universities that have deeper pockets and heftier investments.

"Private giving is the margin of excellence," Moeser said. "It's the difference between being good and great."

UNC-CH's fifth-largest campaign record probably won't last long. Sixty-eight campuses in the United States have completed or are currently raising more than $1 billion, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. That goal used to be out of reach for all but the wealthiest Ivy League schools. Now, three universities -- Columbia, Cornell and Stanford -- are in the hunt for $4 billion in donations.

"The question is, when are we going to see the first $5 billion campaign?" asked Rae Goldsmith, vice president for communications at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. "They're astronomical numbers, but when you think about what these campaigns are doing in terms of facilities, research and scholarships, they are transformative."

The money will go to faculty and student support, building improvements, research and new priorities such as genomics, environmental programs and infectious diseases.

Millions for students

Students are already reaping the benefits. About $345 million was earmarked for 773 student fellowships and scholarships, including the Carolina Covenant program, which provides a debt-free education to students from poor families.

About $419 million will go to faculty, largely for the creation of 208 new endowed professorships. These are invested funds that produce annual earnings that help pay professors' salaries. The awards, which are matched with state money, will help the university keep and attract star faculty.

Earlier this week, the university honored its recent Nobel Prize winner, Oliver Smithies, with a $3 million eminent professorship that will be named for donors Van and Kay Weatherspoon. "We wanted to find a way to both honor him and further enable his research," said Dr. Bill Roper, CEO of the UNC Health Care System and dean of the UNC School of Medicine.

Spreading it around

The professorships won't go only to international superstars. The university also has the latitude to use endowed chairs to hire junior professors, said Holden Thorp, dean of UNC-CH's College of Arts and Sciences. For example, an anonymous gift for the honors program will go to the creation of five new faculty positions. "That allows us to expand the faculty without any public money," Thorp said.

The private money goes for initiatives that could not realistically be paid for with state money, things like scholarships to pay for study abroad programs. "That's a really big thing that benefits students," Thorp said.

Nick Anderson, a UNC-CH junior from Weston, Conn., has had an interesting college career thanks to the university's private support. He is a Robertson Scholar, part of the joint scholarship program between UNC-CH and Duke financed by a $24 million gift from Wall Street investment manager Julian Robertson and his wife Josie.

Last summer, Anderson received a public service fellowship funded by 1975 alumnus Donald P. Kanak. He used the grant to install solar panels at a small school in rural Argentina. He also helped the people establish small entrepreneurial projects -- a chicken coop and a vegetable garden -- to provide income for the school.

"I learned a lot," Anderson said. "It was probably one of the most incredible experiences I've had in my life."

Art for the masses

Private money also helped put a new focus on the arts at UNC-CH. A $10 million endowment supports the Carolina Performing Arts, which brings performances from around the world to the newly renovated Memorial Hall. Students can attend performances for a $10 fee, and last month more than 1,000 saw the ballet there, said Emil Kang, executive director for the arts at the university.

"The only way we can afford to do that is by raising funds for our program," Kang said.

At the medical school and hospital, Roper said, the initial goal was $350 million. In the end, more than $600 million was raised for medical programs.

"In many respects it is the most precious resource we have," Roper said of the private dollars. "It allows us to stretch to do the things that we otherwise just couldn't do."