Friends University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 480547702
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Wichita, KS, US
- Phone
- 316-295-5298
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- University or Technological Institute
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $52,851,669
- Expenses
- $48,397,683
- Assets
- $132,190,832
- Liabilities
- $5,351,295
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DR AMY CAREY (TRUSTEE/PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- DR AMY CAREY (TRUSTEE/PRESIDENT): $353,907 total reported compensation
- KEN STOLTZFUS (VP, ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $159,545 total reported compensation
- SCOTT FREY (VP, FINANCE): $150,657 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Friends University, a Christian university of Quaker heritage, equips students to honor God in their academic, spiritual, and professional lives.
What it reported doing in 2024
Friendship fields is a post secondary option for sped students that allows adults with disabilities to experience college life while also offering friends university students the opportunity to work with special needs adults. The apprentice institute promotes higher-level thinking, deeper conversation and a creative track for growing closer to god by placing a greater emphasis on spirituality, evangelism and spiritual formation by equipping and encouraging people to live good and beautiful lives that will change the world around them.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 87% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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
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: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.2%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 23; 23rd 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: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8.4%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.73; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 90.2% of revenue deployed · 89.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $43.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $354K · 27 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.9M reported
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 13 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: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
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 scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.