Houghton University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
160743045
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Houghton, NY, USA
Phone
5855679200
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$51,464,423
Expenses
$37,331,558
Assets
$148,740,706
Liabilities
$29,618,575

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

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR WAYNE D LEWIS JR (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR WAYNE D LEWIS JR (PRESIDENT): $294,918 total reported compensation
  • DAVID DAVIES (PROVOST AND DEAN OF FACULTY): $154,530 total reported compensation
  • DALE WRIGHT (VP OF FINANCE): $147,141 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Houghton university provides an academically challenging, christ-centered education in the liberal arts and sciences to students from diverse traditions and economic backgrounds and equips them to lead and labor as scholar-servants in a changing world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction: houghton university provides academically challenging, christ-centered education in the liberal arts and sciences through an orthodox christian worldview. A houghton education is deeply rooted in the wesleyan theological tradition and is available to students through both residential and online platform. Our rural, residential campus focuses on learning within an intentional christ-centered community, offering over 70 majors to approximately 900 traditional undergraduate students, equipping them with degrees in the liberal arts, natural sciences and pre-professional programs. Experiential learning both in and out of the classroom is a hallmark of a houghton education, and uniquely prepares our students to lead and labor as scholar-servants in a changing world. Our online education provides the same academically challenging education through an orthodox christian worldview to a student body of diverse learners including adults, professionals, traditional college students, and pre-college dual-enrolled students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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.
  • 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 51st 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: 27.5%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.98; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 30 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $31.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $295K · 36 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.3M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.