Simmons University

Overview

Mission

Simmons university is a community of higher learning that unites passion with purpose.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction - graduate programs: simmons currently serves 3,652 students in graduate programs at the master and doctoral levels. The university's graduate programs are co-educational. These programs are housed in the gwen ifill college of media, humanities, and social sciences; school of library and information science; school of nursing; school of social work; school of sciences and health professions; and the school of management. The university offers online programs in nursing, social work, behavioral analysis, and public health reaching all fifty states, the district of columbia and canada. During the 2025 academic year, the university conferred 1,306 graduate degrees and certificates. Instruction includes expenditures for the graduate programs as well as financial aid.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 84% 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 67% for direct work, and 33% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042103629
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2008
Headquarters
Boston, MA, USA
Rating
82
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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.2%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 49th 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: 96%; rating input score 96; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 2.52; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.2% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $185.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $657K · 37 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 48 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Money network: 19 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 filed related-organization links