Your Legacy Starts Here

Securing generous support helps the institution close budget gaps in annual operations and allows Lab to meet aspirational goals that would otherwise be impossible to reach.

By connecting passionate philanthropists to programs and projects, fundraising also allows Lab to realize activities that further our vision and mission, and often go above and beyond in creative and meaningful ways. 

Without these additional resources from dedicated supporters, Lab would be forced to make difficult choices between tuition levels, financial aid budgets, and programmatic activities.

As a unit of the University of Chicago, Lab participates in both annual and multi-year University budgeting processes. With the guidance of Lab’s Board and under the director’s leadership, Lab’s finance team works with the principals, department chairs, and other administrators to determine staffing and capital needs and operating budgets.

These programmatic costs along with enrollment forecasts, the growth of net tuition, fundraising, and other revenues are incorporated into a multi-year budgeting model that guides Lab’s annual budget choices.

Lab's financial aid program seeks to remove financial barriers for students who contribute to and benefit from a Lab education. Lab's financial aid program serves to bolster the Schools' mission to honor diversity in all its forms. Increasing financial aid resources for current and entering students allows us to change the lives of future Lab alumni and strengthen our commitment to cultivating and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. 

Lab awarded approximately $5.4 million in need-based financial aid in 2023–24 (not including University remission), the highest amount in Lab's history. Continued increases in Lab’s aid budget, mainly achieved through philanthropy, are critical to Lab’s commitment to strengthening socioeconomic diversity and ensuring full access for all students to the transformative educational experiences at Lab. 

Endowment income has historically been a stabilizing force in the operation of education institutions as it is less variable relative to other revenue streams and is available in perpetuity. At Lab, revenue from our endowment provides critical support for our financial aid program.

In addition, individual endowment funds also support professional development; Model United Nations; the Summer Link Program; the Zena Sutherland Awards for Children's Literature Program; faculty, staff, and student award programs; and more. Growing the endowment remains a long-term priority for philanthropy at Lab.