College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

Legal name: College of Saint Benedict

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410969244
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
St. Joseph, MN, US
Phone
320-363-5650
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$117,296,036
Expenses
$114,481,398
Assets
$297,736,475
Liabilities
$45,197,880

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

Leadership & pay

40 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN BRUESS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN BRUESS (PRESIDENT): $587,936 total reported compensation
  • CHERYL STANTON - GENERAL COUNSEL (CORPORATE SECRETARY THRU 01/25): $293,739 total reported compensation
  • ANNE OBERMAN (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $281,609 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

CSB+SJU is a place to explore how you fit into the world, as well as explore your relationship with faith. The Catholic Benedictine communities founded in the 19th century shape our character. We believe in a balanced life, one that personifies your values and celebrates your unique gifts to the community and to the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Higher education: educational instruction, 1,405 fall fte students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses, 347 graduates. The college of saint benedict will be nationally recognized as a community that provides a liberal arts education preparing women to think critically, lead courageously, and advocate passionately. The college of saint benedict designs programs to meet the needs and aspirations of young women, emphasizing women's leadership and a personal development profile that includes intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical development. Its values-based and value-added residential liberal arts education provides the framework for fulfilling lives of disciplined inquiry and leadership in careers devoted to the professions, public life and service to others.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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 53% for direct work, and 47% 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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th 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: 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: 96.9%; rating input score 97; 52nd 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: 2.4%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.6; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 85% of revenue deployed · 87.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 31 of 32 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $100M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $588K · 40 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.3M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 13 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: 10 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.

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.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board 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.