Marilyn Johnston, an alumna of the college, donated her family farm when she died in September at the age of 98.
President Clarence Wyatt says the college will lease the land to local farmers. It's the fifth working farm owned by Monmouth College.
"It remains productive, it remains a very important part of not just the economy of those communities, but the sort of social and cultural fabric of those communities," he said.
"With Marilyn's land, the current tenants, the people who had been working that land for her, are continuing right on."
The 780-acre farm in Mercer County is valued at nearly $12 million dollars. The gift will add to the college's endowment and investment portfolio.
Johnston graduated from Monmouth in 1948. Wyatt says she was a longtime supporter of the college.
"She went on to a great career as a nurse, she served her community well, she changed other lives for the better," he said.
"And the fact that she wanted to be sure that that mission continued, that that transformative power continued for other students, is something that we do not take for granted."
The donation is the second largest in the college's history.
