Our Royal Charter, which was last updated in 2024, confers wide powers on our Trustees to determine the appropriate use of our income in line with this purpose.
To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Trust we recently published a new five-year strategic plan, and launched our new operating identity – Carnegie Education Fund.
The Plan has been produced following time spent reflecting on, and reconnecting with the Trust’s founding vision and values and asking ourselves what Carnegie might do if faced with today’s higher education landscape.
At its heart is a vision of the Trust as an independent, evidence‑driven voice in higher education — one that supports and champions students, amplifies under‑represented voices and brings objectivity and ideas to debates about the future of higher education in Scotland.
We'll be renewing our website over the next couple of months. In the meantime, to find out more about our reasons for changing and download a copy of our Strategic Plan you can visit our transition page.
The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland was established as an independent not-for- profit foundation in 1901, through an initial endowment of $10 million in bonds, donated by the philanthropist and industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The Trust was founded by a Trust Deed in the summer of 1901 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1902.
In the Trust Deed, Carnegie defined its purpose as:
“to support the improvement and expansion of the Universities of Scotland and the provision of support for those ‘deserving and qualified’ students attending these universities for whom the payment of fees might act as a barrier.”
By 1910, the Trust covered the costs of tuition fees for around half of the student body of the four Scottish universities (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews). During the first half of the 20th Century, the Trust also funded a broad range of activities including the construction of lecture theatres, laboratories, university libraries and student residences.
As the availability of public funding for tuition fees and capital development increased in the second half of the century, the Trust continued to provide grants for tuition fees to those who were ineligible for public support, focusing on those facing financial hardship. It also continued to support to the advancement of knowledge in universities through research grants, scholarships and fellowships including new grant schemes for expeditions and publications.
Over its 125 years, the Trust has supported over 70,000 individuals to access higher education in colleges and universities through tuition fee payments and many more through research and publication grants and scholarships. This funding has transformed lives. You can read more about our grantees in our Alumni Stories catalogue.
In 2023 we commissioned Dr Catriona Macdonald, Reader in Late Modern Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, to research the Trust’s contribution to the development of higher education in Scotland and the impact of our grants. Catriona’s research will be shared as part of an exhibition in our 125th anniversary year and through blogs on our website.
The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland is a charitable foundation established with an endowment of $10 million from Andrew Carnegie over 100 years ago.
Today, we cover our grant-making and operating costs with the income from our investments. In 2024, we ratified a change to our Royal Charter to enable us to manage our investments on a total return basis. This offers greater flexibility to balance income against long-term capital growth. We also used the opportunity to disinvest from investments which did not align with our organisational values.
In 2025, we will be working to agree an Investment Policy which reflects our ethics and values.
