Franklin & Marshall College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231352635
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Lancaster, PA, US
Phone
717-358-3911
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$199,432,384
Expenses
$194,655,254
Assets
$886,546,793
Liabilities
$191,348,224

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

Leadership & pay

54 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BARBARA K ALTMANN PHD (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BARBARA K ALTMANN PHD (PRESIDENT): $1,006,395 total reported compensation
  • SHAWN P CURTIN (VP FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION): $373,880 total reported compensation
  • MARY OSIRIM (INTERIM PROVOST & DEAN OF FACULTY): $368,075 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Franklin & marshall college is a residential college dedicated to excellence in undergraduate liberal arts education. Its aims are to inspire in young people of high promise and diverse backgrounds a genuine and enduring love for learning, to teach them to read, write, and think critically, to instill in them the capacity for both independent and collaborative action, and to educate them to explore and understand the natural, social, and cultural worlds in which they live. In so doing, the college seeks to foster in its students qualities of intellect, creativity, and character, that they may live fulfilling lives and contribute meaningfully to their occupations, their communities, and their world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Student and auxiliary services: f&m is a residential campus that holistically supports student growth and success. The student support hub brings together the majority of the college's student support services, including the writing center, quantitative and science center, dipcares wellness program, first-year advising mentors, international and multilingual support, and accessibility services. The college has a fully integrated student wellness center in partnership with penn medicine lancaster general health. 33% of students compete in division iii athletics on 28 varsity teams. Students also participate in more than 110 active student clubs and organizations, including greek life and dozens of clubs and intramural sports teams. Academic support, research, public service, and institutional support are all considered auxiliary services that are provided to students throughout their college careers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 86% 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 57% for direct work, and 43% 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.2%; rating input score 97; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • 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: 4.55; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 18th 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: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 35 of 36 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $147.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1M · 54 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $14.6M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • 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: 19 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.