Drew University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 221487164
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Madison, NJ, USA
- Phone
- 973-408-3000
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $120,509,727
- Expenses
- $133,892,618
- Assets
- $214,690,514
- Liabilities
- $93,071,497
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
31 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HILARY L LINK (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- HILARY L LINK (PRESIDENT): $495,694 total reported compensation
- BRET D SILVER (VP OF ADVANCEMENT): $443,723 total reported compensation
- JESSICA LAKIN (PROVOST): $355,590 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Drew University is a private liberal arts university that provides a rigorous, interdisciplinary education, emphasizing experiential learning, global engagement, and social justice.
What it reported doing in 2024
The caspersen school of graduate studies was founded on the principle of the importance of interdisciplinary study in the humanities. The goal of the school's founders was to foster broadly educated people who have expertise in a field of thought but who are also familiar with and articulate in a range of humanistic studies. This mission continues to distinguish the caspersen school among institutions with doctoral programs in the humanities. Our intent is to train persons who are properly prepared not only in specific recognized fields but also in interdisciplinary dialogue. We celebrate the joy of learning as we prepare able, well informed graduates who pursue careers in higher education, in the religious and medical communities, and in the broader intellectual world. As such, we are well positioned to meet the increasing call for interdisciplinary approaches both in the academy and in the wider world. Integral to our mission is encouraging our faculty and students alike to pursue creative research in the humanities and to make the results of their work available through teaching, participation in scholarly meetings, various forms of publication and intellectual discourse; to that end we continue to explore new possibilities of enhancing interdisciplinary studies in the humanities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 87% 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 60% for direct work, and 40% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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: 70
- Accountability: 92
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 92.9%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th 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: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 48th 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: -11.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.6; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -3.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 92.9% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $111.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $496K · 31 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $14.4M reported
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 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: 11 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.
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.