Penn State placed 31st nationwide and second in the state in total donations received by universities, according to a recent study.

Penn State's books haven't closed yet for this year, but Lori Baney, Penn State's director of Donor Services, said the university is currently sitting at about $100 million in total donations received.

The university is waiting to see if an increase will occur this year.

Baney said this year, Penn State might see an increase in donations because of the Pension Protection Act. Under this act, certain taxpayers are able to make tax-free charitable contributions up to $100,000 per year. The bill lasts until January 2008.

Penn State alone received more than $161,379,763 in donations from alumni and other individuals last year -- a notable increase from the previous years. The university typically receives about $130,911,000 in total donations, Baney said.

Some of this total includes artwork donations as well, Baney said.

Ann Kaplan, director of the survey, said Penn State's placement nationwide was expected. Stanford University topped the national list, receiving more than $9.1 million in donations last year.

"You would expect these universities that are on top to be on top. They require large gifts in cash. Most large gifts are for building new facilities and infrastructure. The bigger the programs, the more of a need you have," Kaplan said.

The survey, released by the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), tracked about 1,000 private and public institutions nationwide. The CAE found that the 2006 fiscal year brought in just more than $14 billion from individuals and alumni and $28 billion total.

Penn State Assistant Vice President for Development David Lieb said most of Penn State's giving comes from individuals, alumni and friends, which accounts for more than half of the university's donations.

"Our percent participation from alumni is 16.2 percent -- active alumni that are giving to the university. It is one of the highest among Big Ten schools," Lieb said.

Lieb also said a possible reason for the increase of donations at Penn State might have been a result of contributions by the will of a deceased donor.

"When that happens it does tend to move that needle a bit. We also have a very strong, major gift program to try and encourage big gifts as well," Lieb said. "That's probably what encouraged it in total contributions from alumni. It is a nice way for people to leave a legacy at a place that is obviously important to them."

Baney said a possible reason for the increase might be attributed to the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005, which provided tax relief and provided incentives for charitable acts.

Kaplan attributes some of the increase to a strong economy.

"If the economy is strong enough [the donations] have the capacity to come through, so what you have got is institutions making a case for large gifts in an economy that can perform," Kaplan said. "Their assets are performing well."

Kaplan also said the Pension Protection Act is already starting to have an impact in the survey's results.

"I know that those are starting to show up on the survey. It is starting to have somewhat of an impact. Institutions are asking if they can count them," Kaplan said.

As for whether or not this trend will continue into next year's numbers, Kaplan said it depends on the stock market.

"The economy starting to slow isn't great for higher giving. I'm going to have to wait and see," Kaplan said. "Most years, giving to higher education goes up because economy expands and giving expands with it. Certain changes in tax laws could make it go down, otherwise it goes up. It remains to be seen."