Duke University in Durham, N.C., joined the ranks of Harvard, Stanford and Columbia universities by raising more than $330 million in the 1998-1999 fiscal year, Duke's Dialogue newspaper reports.

This amount placed Duke fourth nationally in total university giving, and was 30 percent more than the university raised last year. This also was the first year Duke passed the $300 million mark.

The 1998-1999 philanthropic campaign garnered 127,859 gifts, a 12.6 percent increase from the previous year. New pledges were up 23 percent to 22,500, school officials report.

Individual gifts were $86.9 million, corporate gifts totaled $143 million and foundation giving reached $49.6 million. The largest benefactor -- giving $36.6 million -- was The Duke Endowment, the philanthropic organization created by university founder James B. Duke in 1924.

The university launched the five-year public phase of its $1.5 billion campaign in October. As of mid-July, total pledges reached $900 million.