Coe College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
420686467
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Cedar Rapids, IA, USA
Phone
319.399.8843
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$87,571,508
Expenses
$85,862,997
Assets
$178,054,819
Liabilities
$36,094,327

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID HAYES (PRESIDENT)
  • KIM PRIBYL - ASST TO THE (PRESIDENT & ASST SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID HAYES (PRESIDENT): $332,779 total reported compensation
  • JULIE STAKER (VP FOR ENROLLMENT, MKTG, & INST.): $250,672 total reported compensation
  • ANGELA ZISKOWSKI (PROVOST & DEAN OF FACULTY): $191,223 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Think Like a Kohawk

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction - coe college is a selective, private and nationally recognized four-year coeducational liberal arts institution, providing superior educational experiences for students since 1851. To each of its more than 1,200 students, the institution offers the advantages of a small college that is dedicated to academic excellence. Student-faculty ratios are low at 11 to 1, the average class size is 17, and 95% of full-time faculty members have earned the highest degree in their respective fields. Students can thus receive a level of personalized attention that has almost disappeared elsewhere in modern academia. The campus presents an inviting environment to students both inside and outside the classroom, offering a variety of opportunities for growth and personal enrichment in the many intellectual, athletic and service pursuits available.coe is recognized as one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the country by a variety of widely respected college ranking publications that weigh academic quality and student selectivity. Coe college enjoys both an excellent regional reputation and national recognition for the strength of its programs. Through careful planning, selective use of resources, and the efforts of a dedicated faculty and staff, coe has not only maintained but strengthened its position among liberal arts colleges in the midwest.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 84% 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 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.
  • 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 92%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th 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: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 40th 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: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 91.8% of revenue deployed · 92% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 33 of 36 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $79M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $333K · 47 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.8M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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 scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.