Franklin University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
310707369
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbus, OH, US
Phone
614.947.6540
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$111,960,173
Expenses
$99,072,517
Assets
$151,440,069
Liabilities
$24,308,091

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dr David R Decker (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dr David R Decker (President): $1,007,178 total reported compensation
  • Christi Farley-Cabungcal (Chief of Staff & SVP Administration): $438,800 total reported compensation
  • Dr Christopher Washington (Provost and SVP-Academic Affairs): $437,439 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 is committed to providing an excellent education in a safe, secure environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Franklin University served 14,678 unique students in the 2024-25 Academic Year, granting 125 Associate's degrees, 1,415 Bachelor's degrees, 899 Master's degrees, 70 Doctoral degrees, and 33 graduate certificates. Franklin has a total of 78 academic program offerings (42 undergraduate, 2 undergraduate certificates, and 23 graduate, 5 doctorate and 6 graduate certificates). Globally, Franklin offers its MBA and undergraduate programs to students through international partnerships.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 96% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

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: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: 11.5%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 82.6% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $83.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1M · 35 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.3M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.