Stanford becomes 1st school to raise more than $1 billion in a year The nation's top fund-raising institution last year, Stanford University, raised $1.03 billion from donors, the first to raise more than $1 billion in a given year. Out of the nation's top 10 fund-raising institutions, two others were in California, with the University of Southern California raising $492 million and the University of California, Berkeley raising $405 million, according to a list by the Council for Aid to Education. Among other California schools, UCLA raised $344 million and Caltech pulled in $100 million. Big donors overall felt a little more charitable toward U.S. colleges and universities last year. Giving to these institutions rose 2.3% in 2012 over the prior year. A total of $31 billion was given to higher education institutions, still shy of the record $31.6 billion set in 2008, according to the council. About half of the institutions -- 52.8% -- raised the same last year as they did the year prior. The rest reported a decline. Here are the top 10 in fund-raising for 2012: Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. - $1.035 billion Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. - $650 million Yale University, New Haven, Conn. - $544 million University of Southern California - $492 million Columbia University, New York - $490 million Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore - $480 million University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia - $441 million University of California, Berkeley - $405 million 9 New York University, New York - $396 million Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. - $379 million