Donations to colleges and universities rose solidly last year, to a record of nearly $30 billion, with the wealthiest universities again attracting a hugely disproportionate share, a new survey shows. But the economic downturn means the fundraising pace for 2008 could slow.

Private donations to higher education rose 6.3 percent last year to $29.75 billion, according to the annual Voluntary Support of Education survey.

The survey tracks donations by fiscal year, so the report for 2007 essentially covers the 2006-2007 school year and doesn't reflect the economic slowdown that began last fall.

The already wealthy schools — with leading faculty researchers and the most sophisticated fundraising operations — had the most success attracting new donations. The top 20 fundraisers raised $518 million more than the previous year, for a total of $7.66 billion. They account for just 2 percent of survey respondents but accounted for more than a quarter of all contributions to colleges and universities and nearly one-third of the total increase in giving.

Stanford University raised $832.4 million, the most of any institution, though its total was down from the $911 million it raised in the previous year — the largest one-year haul ever for a university.

Next was Harvard ($614 million), which has the largest total endowment, followed by the University of Southern California ($469.7 million) and Johns Hopkins ($430.5 million).

Next year's survey could mark the end of an extraordinary run for higher education that has let at least 76 institutions build endowments of $1 billion or more, according to the most recent figures from the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

During the last economic slowdown, in fiscal 2002 and 2003, fundraising growth was stagnant for two straight years.

Historically, economic conditions do affect giving to colleges, but not necessarily dramatically, said Ann Kaplan, who directs the survey.

"It tends to be fairly stable once someone has a habit of giving to a college or university," she said. "It's a fairly reliable connection people make to an institution they attended or some of the other institutions."

Florida raised $182 million last year, up from $161 million in 2006. A one-month record of $47 million came in during December alone.

The figures come as colleges have faced increasing demands from the public and in Congress to spend more of their endowments, particularly to keep tuition rises in check. In recent months, a string of institutions such as Harvard, Dartmouth and Swarthmore have announced significant expansions of financial aid.