Boston College
Overview
Mission
Boston College, a Catholic and Jesuit university founded to serve society through rigorous teaching and research, works to pursue a just society and foster a mutually illuminating relationship between religious faith and free intellectual inquiry. Boston College builds upon its traditions. It seeks to be the national leader in the liberal arts; to fulfill its Jesuit, Catholic mission of faith and service; to continue to develop model programs to support students in their formation; and to seek solutions—as researchers, educators, leaders, and caregivers—that directly address the world’s most urgent problems. Gasson quad Guiding Our Path. Inspiration for Boston College’s academic and societal mission is drawn from the University’s distinctive religious and intellectual heritage. As a Jesuit, Catholic University, Boston College is rooted in a world view that calls us to learn, to...
What it reported doing in 2024
Student services and academic support - includes activities of which the primary purpose is to contribute to the students' emotional and physical well-being and to his/her intellectual, cultural, and social development. Operated 9 university library facilities containing over 3.400 million volumes, over 205 thousand serial titles serving the university and surrounding community.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 70% 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 77% for direct work, and 23% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042103545
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Website reviewed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Headquarters
- Chestnut Hill, MA, United States
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Universities
- Affiliation
- Christianity
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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 the website gives limited detail about important organizational relationships.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 63
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.5%; rating input score 80
- Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
- Public monitoring controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public policy transparency: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public financial transparency: 0 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Impact reporting controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public relationship transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95.9%; rating input score 96; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Public governance controls: 2 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 18.2%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 5.14; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 80.5% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 47 of 49 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3B in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $3.4M · 77 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 44 of 44 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
- Money network: 70 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 46 filed related-organization links