Council of Independent Colleges

What it reported doing in 2024

Networks, programs, projects, and services cic's networks, programs, projects, and services support academic programs and institutional development in key areas through leadership development for mid-level and senior campus officers and faculty development as well as through programs and services for state council members.institutional development programs and services legacies of american slavery: reckoning with the pastthis initiative, generously funded by the andrew w. Mellon foundation and offered in partnership with the gilder lehrman center for the study of slavery, resistance, and abolition (glc) at yale university's macmillan center, was designed to help cic member institutions and their local communities explore the continuing impact of slavery on american life and culture. Seven colleges and universities served as regional collaboration partners. Each partner focused on a theme of local and national significance, organizing regional activities while contributing to a national conversation through research activities, undergraduate courses, curricular development, and public events. In summer 2020, the project received supplemental funding from the national endowment for the humanities (neh). A final conference was held at the national civil rights museum in memphis, Tennessee, on september 1921, 2024, with many sessions livestreamed and later shared as recordings on the project website. A series of project summaries and reflections from the regional collaborators was posted to the project website in may 2025, which collectively serves as a final report. Humanities research for the public goodwith support from the mellon foundation, this program brought scholarship in the humanities into local communities through student-led public programs that drew upon institutional library or archival collections. Forty-nine institutions developed community-facing projects with support from this program. The program was directed by anne m. Valk, executive director of the american social history project/ center for media and learning, cuny graduate center. A multimedia report, humanities research for the public good: a cic initiative to connect colleges and communities through student research and public programs, was released in march 2025 and includes best practices and examples of successful programs.consortium for work-based learningthe work-based learning consortium is a four-year program that began in 2023 in partnership with riipen, an experiential learning platform, to create a national network of institutions that integrate work-based learning opportunities into the curriculum. Cic has also contracted with ithaka s+r, an external research firm, to lead an intensive evaluation of the impact of this curriculum on students, faculty members, and employers. Twenty-five member institutions were selected to participate in the pilot project.campus free expression projectin august 2024, the campus free expression project (cfep) moved to cic to provide support to academic leaders at independent colleges and universities. Launched in 2019 at the bipartisan policy center, the cfep has deeply engaged legislators, policymakers, presidents, and other campus stakeholders in support of this effort. The cfep brings trusted, tested approaches to meeting leadership needs. Cic released updated reports to the task force's signature publication, campus free expression: a new roadmap, which examines the factors that make free expression so challenging on a wide variety of campuses, with tailored advice for presidents, trustees, faculty members, and student affairs officers. The roadmap is particularly relevant to cic's membership of independent colleges and universities, as most members of the academic leaders task force on campus free expression have led and serve at cic member institutions, including baylor university (tx), California lutheran university, depauw university (in), dillard university (la), middlebury college (vt), rhodes college (

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 89.2%; rating input score 89
• Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
• Fundraising efficiency: $10.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Limited
  • Conducts field audits: Limited
  • May suspend future funding: Limited
  • Requires financial reports: Pass
  • Conducts site visits: Limited
  • Requires grant agreements: Limited
  • May require repayment: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 95%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 29th 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: 8%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.34; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 17.3%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings