Yale University in New Haven said it has received its largest donation ever — a $250 million commitment from alumnus Charles Johnson.
The school said the gift brings it within $80 million of what it needs to build two additional residential colleges, adding to the existing 12.
Johnson retired as chairman of Franklin Resources last year. Yale’s Johnson Center for the Study of American Diplomacy, which holds Henry Kissinger’s papers, bears his name.
He said in a statement that he hopes the gift will spur others to give to the campaign.
Yale last built new residential colleges — Morse and Ezra Stiles — in 1961. The colleges are miniature communities within the larger campus, and students remain affiliated with one of the campuses until graduation.
The new colleges would allow the school to admit 15 percent more students each year. It admitted 1,360 into its recent freshman class. The added enrollment would bring Yale’s total enrollment to more than 6,000.
