The University of California at Berkeley is preparing to kick off a $3-billion campaign on Friday, one of the largest fund-raising campaigns ever by a public institution.

The Board of Regents approved the five-year campaign on Wednesday, the Contra Costa Times reported. Berkeley’s chancellor saidthe quiet phase of the campaign, which started in 2005, had brought in about $1.3-billion.

The effort, called “Thanks to Berkeley,” will raise money for scholarships, professorships, fellowships, and faculty research.

The campaign ties Berkeley with the University of Virginia as the most ambitious at a public university, according to The Chronicle’s campaign database.

The announcement will follow a week of tumultuous changes in the financial markets. Fund raisers say they are watching closely to see how the crises might affect private giving to colleges. For more, see this article from The Chronicle. —Kathryn Masterson