Centre College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
610444671
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Danville, KY, United States
Phone
859.238.5200
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$139,089,920
Expenses
$137,751,557
Assets
$704,006,525
Liabilities
$190,158,652

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MILTON MORELAND (PRESIDENT)
  • LESLEY BILBY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR STRATEGIC INITIATIVES & EXTERNAL RELATIONS)
  • STEVEN HOFFMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR NORTON CENTER)

Highest reported compensation

  • MILTON MORELAND (PRESIDENT): $565,193 total reported compensation
  • BRIAN HUTZLEY (VP, CFO AND TREASURER): $489,578 total reported compensation
  • KELLY KNETSCHE (VP FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI): $284,846 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Centre College provides a liberal arts and sciences education with guaranteed hands-on learning experiences—such as internships, research alongside professors, and study abroad—within a supportive community that prepares students for lives of learning, leadership, and service. The Morelands have two grown children. Marcus, a 2016 graduate of Rhodes College, who majored in business and now works as a manager for a logistics company in Memphis, and Micah, a 2020 graduate of Rhodes College who was an international studies major and Asian studies minor, who now works as a consultant in digital marketing in Memphis. Both of their sons were student-athletes, Marcus in baseball and Micah in football. Institutional Research The mission of Institutional Research is to aid in the timely collection, analysis, and dissemination of institutional related information. This includes providing...

What it reported doing in 2024

Founded in 1819, the sole mission of centre, a nationally ranked residential co-ed private liberal arts college, is to provide exceptional post-secondary undergraduate education to its students. We guarantee the opportunity to study abroad, to have an internship, and to graduate in four years. To develop a global perspective, about 85 percent of our students study abroad, with centre professors, at least once. Coupled with small classes, high graduation rates, engaged professors, and real-world preparation for career, graduates enjoy a high success rate for employment or graduate degree acceptance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 69% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.2%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th 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: Limited
  • 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: 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: 1%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.11; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 90.2% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $123.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $565K · 42 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.8M reported
  • Consistency: 47 of 47 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 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.

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.