City University of Seattle

Overview

Mission

Committed to Putting Students First for 50 Years, and Counting

What it reported doing in 2024

City university of seattle is a private, not-for-profit university with approximately 6,550 enrollments during the year ended june 30, 2025. All grants under financial aid go to students to finance their education. The university is comprised of the school of business management, the school of education and leadership, the school of health and social sciences, the Washington academy of languages, and the school of technology and computing. Headquartered in the pacific northwest, city university of seattle offers professional certification, associates, bachelors, master's, and doctoral programs. Classes are held at locations throughout Washington, canada, mexico, slovakia, the czech republic, vietnam, and china.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237421224
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2062394826
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 60.2%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 28th 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: 7.5%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.1; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 55% of revenue deployed · 60.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $27.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 28 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.8M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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

28 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DR MARK MILLIRON (CHAIR): $1,054,865 total reported compensation
  • RANDY C FRISCH (PRESIDENT): $1,006,151 total reported compensation
  • CHRIS BRYAN (CFO/COO): $270,169 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.