Chowan University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
560554199
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Murfreesboro, NC, US
Phone
(252) 398-6500
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Vocational, Technical Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$27,445,151
Expenses
$31,694,106
Assets
$81,939,211
Liabilities
$8,195,179

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

Leadership & pay

51 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CALEB RIGGLEMAN (Vice President for Business Affairs/Corporate Secretary)
  • CHARLES E TAYLOR JR (Interim President)
  • ROSEMARY M THOMAS (PRESIDENT)
  • JOHN DILUSTRO (Vice President for Academic Affairs)
  • Shelley Greene (Vice President for Enrollment & Advancement)
  • KIRK E PETERSON (FORMER PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROSEMARY M THOMAS (PRESIDENT): $221,036 total reported compensation
  • JOHN DILUSTRO (Vice President for Academic Affairs): $151,467 total reported compensation
  • Shelley Greene (Vice President for Enrollment & Advancement): $149,376 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Chowan University is a Christian university that prepares students for lives of purpose, leadership, and service through a transformative education grounded in faith and academic excellence.

What it reported doing in 2024

Chowan university is a comprehensive, coeducational, residential university with both undergraduate and graduate programs. The university offers a variety of academic programs with a liberal arts basis in career-oriented fields such as business, teacher education, criminal justice, etc. In all, the university offers degrees in 20 programs. Students participate in, and are exposed to, various cultural arts programs and events. They are also encouraged to be involved in community and volunteer programs. The university offers various styles of student housing for residential students. Residential students receive training and programming from the residence life staff. Athletic and intramural participation is another important component in the learning and education experience. During fall 2024, the university served approximately 583 students in its traditional undergraduate program, with 512 students enrolled in spring 2025. The graduate program had 72 students in fall 2024 and 71 in spring 2025. Among these, 565 students were residential in fall 2024, and 489 in spring 2025. Additionally, the university enrolled around 7 students in the undergraduate adult degree program for fall 2024 and 6 in spring 2025. The undergraduate residency program, designed for students obtaining their teaching license, had 13 participants in fall 2024 and 6 in spring 2025. Over the course of the year, approximately 159 students successfully completed their program studies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 82% 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.

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: 88
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.9%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -15.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.59; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 98.9% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 37 of 38 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $26.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $221K · 51 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.6M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.