Augsburg University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410694721
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Minneapolis, MN, United States
Phone
612-330-1000
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$153,576,736
Expenses
$151,174,346
Assets
$215,656,761
Liabilities
$76,283,759

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL PRIBBENOW (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL PRIBBENOW (PRESIDENT): $628,203 total reported compensation
  • MONNICA DEVERS (DEAN OF PROF. STUDIES): $267,506 total reported compensation
  • JOHN COSKRAN (CFO): $258,428 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Augsburg University educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its life and work. An Augsburg education is defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values of the Lutheran church, and shaped by its urban and global settings.

What it reported doing in 2024

Academic support and student servicesaugsburg university provides innovative programming and support services to nearly 3,500 undergraduate and graduate learners. As an example, the gage center for student success provides advising, tutoring, and other academic support services to all undergraduate and graduate students. The gage center includes the center for learning and accessible student services, academic specialists who provide individualized accommodations for students with cognitive, learning, and physical disabilities. In addition, stepup augsburg's innovative, nationally recognized residential college recovery program supports 40-60 students each year with counseling, substance-free housing, and leadership development. Through the integrated services of the enrollment center, students and families can receive counseling and support with tuition payment plans, scholarships, financial aid, and registration. Nearly half of all augsburg students participate in sports at the intercollegiate or intramural level and students can also participate in one of augsburg's 50 student organizations. Students are also supported academically by the lindell library which as nearly 500,000 books and e-books, 150,000 streaming videos and audio files, and more than 200 databases with access to another 500 million titles worldwide through the oclc worldcat database.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 90% 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 52% for direct work, and 48% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 92.3%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 93.3% of revenue deployed · 92.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $139.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $628K · 38 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.9M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.