Last year, Penn State collected a record $165.2 million in private donations from alumni and friends of the university. That is nearly the equivalent of half of what this university is receiving in appropriations money from the state legislature this year.

Penn State officials are attributing last year's 26 percent increase in private donations to factors such as the economy and legislation with tax benefits for charitable giving. The money goes to scholarships, graduate fellowships, re-endowment of faculty positions, privately funded research and lab equipment, according to Penn State officials.

The breakdown sounds great, but it does beg the question: Who exactly is benefiting from this large-scale philanthropy?

For a university that depends on its state legislature to keep it afloat, a chunk of change amounting to $165.2 million is practically a gold mine.

So it is crucial that both donors and Penn State understand the type of financial crisis that paying for college can cause for some people -- especially at a university with tuition as high as Penn State's.

What private citizens choose to do with their money is nobody's business but their own -- and occasionally the government's. But the students of Penn State would like you to know that we need all the help we can get when it comes to funding our education.

We love the attractive gardens on campus. We love the state-of-the-art buildings too. But what we need is scholarship money and financial aid.

And we really need private donors -- who are usually alumni who love Penn State -- to see where the true money crunches at Penn State are happening. After increasing the student activity fee, our university has just cut thousands of dollars from the University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC), the student-run organization that delegates funds to student organizations. The student groups need your help right now.

It would be more than nice to see some of that extra $30 million that Penn State received from private donors this year go toward funding student activities.

Once again, gardens are great and buildings are too. We appreciate all of the alumni who put money back into their alma mater.

But please know that money is tight at Penn State, and the students are the ones who are suffering.