UCLA has announced the public start of a $4.2-billion fundraising campaign the largest such effort of any state university in the country to increase student financial aid, bolster faculty hiring and research, and construct new campus buildings.

The campaign ties in with UCLA's centennial in 2019, marking 100 years since Angelenos battled the Berkeley-centric education establishment and finally got the Legislature to approve a southern branch of the University of California.

UCLA has already raised about $1.3 billion toward its target in a so-called quiet phase that began in 2011 and includes several large donations, according to campus officials. They said they are confident that the economic recovery and stock market's climb will help them reach their goal by 2019's end.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block pointed to several recent rankings of research universities worldwide and noted that UCLA is often the only one in the top dozen that was founded in the 20th century; others go as far back as 1636 for Harvard and the 12th century for Oxford.

"This is an extremely young institution that has done extremely well. We want to do even better in the next century and we need resources to do that," said Block, who has been chancellor of the 42,190-student campus since 2007.

The Westwood school aims to surpass previous records for UC fundraising set last year by UC Berkeley, concluding a $3.13-billion drive, and by UCLA's last campaign, which ended in 2005 with $3.05 billion.

It would top the University of Michigan, which is seeking $4 billion in what had been the largest goal in public higher education. Experts say that public universities want to compensate for reductions in state support and to compete with private universities.

Private institutions are aiming even higher: Harvard announced last year that it would try to raise an unprecedented $6.5 billion by 2018 and beat the $6.2 billion that Stanford garnered in a campaign that ended in 2011. USC says it is halfway toward raising $6 billion by 2018.

National surveys show that donations to higher education are rising, particularly in large gifts, as donors shake off recession jitters that reduced giving in 2009.

Ann E. Kaplan, an official with the Council for Aid to Education, a group that studies such philanthropy, said UCLA has a good chance of success. "I don't believe they would embark on it if it wasn't a goal they can meet," she said.

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UCLA plans $4.2-billion fundraising drive to mark 2019 centennial

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