Indiana Wesleyan University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
350885591
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Marion, IN, USA
Phone
7656772947
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$269,090,976
Expenses
$223,084,044
Assets
$685,685,861
Liabilities
$60,011,177

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

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jonathan S Kulaga (University President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jonathan S Kulaga (University President): $454,547 total reported compensation
  • Tod Dalberg (EVP/Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer): $245,528 total reported compensation
  • Wayne Schmidt (Trustee): $238,785 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

This Christian commitment has a transforming impact on the IWU educational experience, called forth in the IWU mission statement: _"Indiana Wesleyan University is a Christ-centered academic community committed to changing the world by developing students in character, scholarship, and leadership."_ All of IWU's faculty and staff are committed Christians desiring to use their God-given skills, experiences, and passions to help IWU provide a high-quality Christian education to men and women of all ages.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction: this program encompasses a wide range of instructions in liberal arts curriculum, as well as providing textbook distribution and residential dining services for students. Bookstore: this program service provides textbook distribution for students. Food service: this program service provides students residential dining services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 77% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th 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: 73.1%; rating input score 73; 23rd 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: 17.1%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.07; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 26 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $455K · 38 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $26M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 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: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 14 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.