Brandeis University in Waltham has raised a record-breaking $138 million this year as it pushes a plan to reinvent the liberal arts.

The Brandeis Plan aims to embed microcredentials into its curriculum and develop a competency-based transcript valued by employers. The institution received a $1 million grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to reinvent its academic programming.

"What we're talking about is making the liberal arts vibrant again. Not throwing them out, not diminishing them, but updating them," President Arthur Levine previously told MassLive.

Alum Karen Richards Sachs and her husband, David A. Sachs, gave $25 million — the largest single alumni gift — to help create a new campus commons. Alum Marc Better and his partner Thomas Baker gave an unrestricted $10 million gift.

Read more: Colleges are under pressure. What are they doing to reinvent themselves?

The university's fundraising effort spurred 25 gifts of $1 million or more, including four $10 million donations. Nearly 5,000 alumni and 1,000 families donated, the university said.

Brandeis has seen a sharp increase in applications compared to the previous year, Levine said earlier this year. The increase comes after the university said it would eliminate 60 positions in May 2024 amid declining enrollment and budget deficits. Its president, Ron Liebowitz, stepped down in September of that year following a faculty no-confidence vote.

The difficulties at Brandeis reinvigorated the community to change, creating a path forward to reinvent its curriculum and credentialing.

"We've read the demographics," Levine previously said. "We were afraid our applications would go down. We were afraid that we'd have longer deficits. I mean, it was more of a response to the times. It was saying — look, we're feeling this a little bit."

Eighty million of the funds raised will support programs and initiatives across the university, $20 million will enhance the campus community and $13.5 million are flexible cash gifts to support access, opportunity and innovation, according to the university.

"This broad show of support demonstrates the Brandeis community's confidence in the university's model for reinventing the liberal arts and for Brandeis' future as a leader in higher education," Ronald Ratner, who is on the Board of Trustees and campaign co-chair, said in a statement. "Every day, we are honored and inspired by the commitment and generosity of our alumni, parents, and friends."

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