Colleges and universities in the United States received $41 billion in charitable contributions in 2016, the Council for Aid to Education says.

In its latest Voluntary Support of Education survey, the Council found that postsecondary institutions raised 1.7 percent more in 2016 than the $40.3 billion received in 2015. However, the Council says, the year-to-year increase is nearly eliminated by inflation.

Harvard University topped the list of contributions received in 2016 with $1.19 billion. The top 20 fund-raising institutions—which make up less than 1 percent of the nation's colleges—raised 27.1 percent of all 2016 gifts, But the total amount received by those 20 school declined by 2.1 percent—$11.12 billion in 2016, compared with $11.36 billion in 2015.

The survey found that 2016 giving to colleges and universities broke down this way: 24.2 percent of contributions came from alumni; 18.3 percent from non-alumni individuals; 30.4 percent from foundations; 16.1 percent from corporations; and 11 percent from other organizations.

Those numbers represent a decline in personal giving from alumni (an 8 percent drop) as well as non-alumni individuals (a 6 percent drop). In contrast, donations from corporations rose 14.8 percent, and donations from foundations increased 7.3 percent.

"The weak stock market during the 2016 fiscal year likely depressed personal giving, while giving from organizations was buoyed by commitments make amid strong market conditions in the 2015 fiscal year," the Council says in a news release.