Bryant University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
050258810
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Smithfield, RI, USA
Phone
4012326005
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Graduate, Professional Schools (Separate Entities)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$278,704,976
Expenses
$270,018,842
Assets
$690,613,851
Liabilities
$233,117,686

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

Leadership & pay

57 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ross J Gittell (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ross J Gittell (President): $882,642 total reported compensation
  • Donna G Ng (VP for Business Affairs/CFO and Treasurer): $521,380 total reported compensation
  • Rupendra K Paliwal (Provost and Chief Academic Officer): $515,857 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bryant University's mission is to educate and inspire students to discover their passion and become innovative leaders with character around the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Approximately 85% of the undergraduates and 90% of the freshmen reside on campus in the residence halls and townhouses. Living options at the University are designed to foster a gradual increase of independent lifestyle and individual responsibility. First-year students have the opportunity to establish relationships with large numbers of classmates in a more traditional setting. Sophomores and Juniors experiment with small-group living while eating in common areas with all resident students. Most seniors live independently in townhouse units with full responsibility for their cooking, cleaning, etc. All living areas include telephone, cable, and computer access. All students who live on campus, except for those in the townhouses, are required to participate in a meal plan. Bryant offers a number of plans to provide students with flexible options for on-campus dining at several locations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 94% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 62% for direct work, and 38% 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: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.1%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.56; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 34 of 34 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $239.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $883K · 57 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $68.9M reported
  • Consistency: 54 of 54 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 21 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.