Bentley University

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

Tuition, fees, and auxiliarybentley has been educating business-minded students since harry c. Bentley first convened 30 accounting students on huntington avenue in boston in 1917. We have continuously adapted to become one of the top business universities in the u.s., combining business with arts and science to prepare successful leaders who make business a force for positive change. Faculty across all departments are committed to establishing effective teaching and learning relationships with students both inside and outside the classroom, while simultaneously pursuing scholarly research that contributes to their knowledge and that supports the university's teaching mission. See schedule o for continuation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 63% for direct work, and 37% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
041081650
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2008
Headquarters
Waltham, MA, USA
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Universities

Official website

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The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 86.5%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: Limited
  • Public policy transparency: Limited
  • Public financial transparency: Limited
  • Impact reporting controls: Limited
  • Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.9%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 2.28; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.6% of revenue deployed · 86.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $344.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 38 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 49 of 49 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Money network: 27 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 filed related-organization links