Carroll College
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 810231774
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Helena, MT, US
- Phone
- 800.992.3648
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $73,077,952
- Expenses
- $70,479,479
- Assets
- $159,898,866
- Liabilities
- $15,983,856
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
30 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DR JOHN CECH (PRESIDENT/EX-OFFICIO)
- KATHLEEN O'LEARY (VICE PRESIDENT, STUDENT EN)
Highest reported compensation
- DR JOHN CECH (PRESIDENT/EX-OFFICIO): $318,629 total reported compensation
- LORI PETERSON (V.P. FINANCE & ADMINISTRAT): $206,108 total reported compensation
- JENNIFER GLOWIENKA (V.P. FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $180,649 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Carroll College is a Catholic diocesan college that provides a transformative liberal arts education in the context of faith and reason, preparing students for lives of service and leadership.
What it reported doing in 2024
Student services - office of the dean of students, student activities, student publications, counseling, financial aid, student records, and student health issues
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 83% 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 50% for direct work, and 50% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 60
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.5%; rating input score 80
- Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: 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: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- 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: 3.6%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.27; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 79.5% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $58M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $319K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $10M reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- 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 scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.