[Roberton3]

Using giving also unfairly dings public institutions. 

How is that unfair?  Giving is certainly higher at private schools, but my sense is that largely reflects differences in school quality and alumni satisfaction (and perhaps also that private schools tend to attract students who put a greater value on education).  And that's what it's trying to measure.  It's far from a perfect measure, of course, but it doesn't seem inherently biased against public schools.

Perhaps 30 years ago, public schools weren't making any effort to get alumni donations.  But that's certainly not true now.  My girlfriend's PhD is from a public university, and she gets even more mail from them asking for donations than I get from Stanford.

[Roberton3]

Using giving also unfairly dings public institutions. 

How is that unfair?  Giving is certainly higher at private schools, but my sense is that largely reflects differences in school quality and alumni satisfaction (and perhaps also that private schools tend to attract students who put a greater value on education).  And that's what it's trying to measure.  It's far from a perfect measure, of course, but it doesn't seem inherently biased against public schools.

Perhaps 30 years ago, public schools weren't making any effort to get alumni donations.  But that's certainly not true now.  My girlfriend's PhD is from a public university, and she gets even more mail from them asking for donations than I get from Stanford.