Franklin University Switzerland
Legal name: Franklin Switzerland Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237075717
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2129229650
- Rating
- 53
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $26,049,944
- Expenses
- $25,387,023
- Assets
- $64,024,431
- Liabilities
- $51,053,206
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- totals: $1,171,979 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 University Switzerland provides a transformative international education that fosters intellectual curiosity, global awareness, and ethical leadership through a unique integration of academic travel, liberal arts, and interdisciplinary study.
What it reported doing in 2024
Operations of an accredited university with an average enrollent of 378 undergraduate students and 0 graduate students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 93% 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 52% for direct work, and 48% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and a relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 50
- Transparency & Controls: 69
- Accountability: 42
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 54.6%; rating input score 55
- Program expense ratio: 57%; rating input score 57
- Fundraising efficiency: $1.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd 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: 2.5%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.52; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.8; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -2.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 54.6% of revenue deployed · 57% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $14.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 18 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $398K reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 5/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.