Cedarville University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 310536647
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Cedarville, OH, USA
- Phone
- 1-800-CEDARVILLE (1-800-233-2784) or 1-937-766-7700
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $240,765,832
- Expenses
- $210,980,598
- Assets
- $365,354,316
- Liabilities
- $24,834,255
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
39 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- THOMAS WHITE (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- THOMAS WHITE (PRESIDENT): $478,530 total reported compensation
- SCOTT VAN LOO (VP ENROLLMENT MGMT): $278,309 total reported compensation
- CHRISTOPHER SOHN (VP OF BUSINESS CFO): $277,697 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Cedarville University is a Christ-centered learning community equipping students for lifelong impact through academic excellence, spiritual growth, and service.
What it reported doing in 2024
Student services: at cedarville, we are a community of believers accountable to one another, called to reflect the character of jesus christ and to be obedient to his word. We will be faithful in our support for the local church and in our practice of spiritual disciplines. We will practice biblical principles of encouragement, exhortation, and reconciliation. We commit ourselves to integrity, kindness, purity, and self-control and to continual growth in scholarship, leadership, and service.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 85% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 58% for direct work, and 42% 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: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 81
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.9%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st 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: 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: 76%; rating input score 76; 25th 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: 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: 12.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 78.9% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $188.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $479K · 39 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $29M reported
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 12 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: 22 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.