Columbia University

Legal name: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

Overview

Mission

To advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

The trustees of columbia university in the city of New York is a private, nonsectarian, nonprofit institution of higher education whose activities are concentrated at three locations in New York city and extend around the globe. The university provides instruction through seventeen undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. It operates a variety of research institutes and a library system to support its teaching, learning, and research activities. The university enrolls approximately 35,872 full-time and part-time students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 65% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 85% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
135598093
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Headquarters
New York, NY, US
Phone
212-854-7309
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.6%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.61; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.6%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 93.6% of revenue deployed · 90.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $6.5B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $6.9M · 48 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $120.9M reported
  • Consistency: 48 of 48 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 450 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 472 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Leadership & pay

48 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • LAWRENCE GERALD LENKE (PROFESSOR OF SURGERY): $6,866,322 total reported compensation
  • KIM LEW (CEO OF IMC): $5,382,553 total reported compensation
  • RONALD ARTHUR LEHMAN JR (PROFESSOR OF SURGERY): $3,605,765 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.