Case Western Reserve University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341018992
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Cleveland, OH, United States
Phone
216.368.3066
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,735,353,050
Expenses
$1,651,834,029
Assets
$4,672,650,201
Liabilities
$1,202,135,592

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

Leadership & pay

57 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Eric Kaler (President, Ex Officio)
  • Brian D Burnett (Executive Vice President and CFO (Beg 1/1/25))
  • Joy Ward (Provost & Executive Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Eric Kaler (President, Ex Officio): $2,148,720 total reported compensation
  • Stanton Gerson (Sr. VP; Dean & Professor): $1,645,154 total reported compensation
  • John Sideras (Executive VP for Finance & CFO (End 1/31/25)): $1,058,878 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Systems that support attainment of our mission TOP Case Western Reserve University Bicentennial Logo. We aim to improve and enrich lives through education and research. CWRU by the Numbers 6,534. Policies support the University's mission by establishing clear standards for individual conduct, supporting operational efficiency, promoting legal compliance, and mitigating risk. The University works to establish and maintain effective policies by using a thorough review and approval process set forth in the Policy for the Management of Administrative Policies (or "Policy MAP"). This comprehensive webpage gives the campus community a convenient way to access University policies.

What it reported doing in 2024

Other sponsored programs: the university's library system is composed of four primary units: the university library, the cleveland health sciences library, the school of law library and the lillian & milford harris library in the mandel school of applied social sciences. The libraries of the university support the undergraduate, graduate and professional programs and contain over 3 million volumes. Case western reserve university offers assistance to its students to help meet financial need or to recognize outstanding academic achievement and promise. Academic excellence is recognized by the academic awards program and other scholarship programs of the undergraduate colleges and by various assistantships, fellowships, scholarships and other awards of individual departments in the school of graduate studies and several of the professional schools. Case western reserve university actively promotes the development of services and programs to support the physical, emotional and intellectual well-being of its students.' the programs and services are available to undergraduate, graduate and professional students alike and are designed to provide positive, developmental opportunities both to supplement the academic experience and enrich campus life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, 23% for grants, and 1% for affiliated organizations.
  • 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.2%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 89.1%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $56.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 47th 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: 4.8%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.83; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 92.2% of revenue deployed · 89.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 38 of 40 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.5B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.1M · 57 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $112.4M reported
  • Consistency: 46 of 46 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.
  • 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: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.