Tulane University

Legal name: The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund

Overview

Mission

Exterior view of Gibson Hall Tulane's purpose is to create, communicate and conserve knowledge in order to enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to think, to learn and to act and lead with integrity and wisdom. Tulane's purpose is to create, communicate and conserve knowledge in order to enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to think, to learn and to act and lead with integrity and wisdom. Tulane pursues this mission by cultivating an environment that focuses on learning and the generation of new knowledge; by expecting and rewarding teaching and research of extraordinarily high quality and impact; and by fostering community-building initiatives as well as scientific, cultural and social understanding that integrate with and strengthen learning and research. This mission is pursued in the context of the unique qualities of our...

What it reported doing in 2024

Higher Education: Operation of a Private University: This category includes expenditures for all activities that are part of the institutions instruction program. Expenditures for credit and non-credit courses, for academic, occupational, and vocational instruction and for regular, special and extended sessions are included. The instruction program encompasses 14,664 students participating in undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in the fields of liberal arts, science and engineering, architecture, business, law, social work, medicine and public health and tropical medicine. Also included in this category are all forms of student aid and expenditures for the education and support of students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 72% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 82% 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
720423889
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2007
Headquarters
New Orleans, LA, United States
Phone
+1 504-865-5000
Rating
82
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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.5%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 84.2%; rating input score 84; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.7%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.63; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 85.5% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 32 of 38 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.5B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3.1M · 56 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $141M reported
  • Consistency: 50 of 52 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • 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: 910 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 898 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

56 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Jonathan Sumrall (Head Football Coach): $3,081,000 total reported compensation
  • Michael Fitts (President): $2,851,000 total reported compensation
  • Richard Chau (Chief Investment Officer): $2,005,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.