John Brown University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
710239576
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Siloam Springs, AR, US
Phone
479-524-9500
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$94,624,599
Expenses
$81,205,273
Assets
$345,057,657
Liabilities
$9,253,736

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

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR CHARLES POLLARD (PRESIDENT)
  • DR KIMBERLY M HADLEY (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DR JAMES KRALL (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT)
  • DR ROBERT NORWOOD (VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS)
  • DR RYAN LADNER (VICE PRESIDENT OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR CHARLES POLLARD (PRESIDENT): $521,804 total reported compensation
  • DR ROBERT NORWOOD (VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $226,715 total reported compensation
  • DR JAMES KRALL (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT): $226,199 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

John Brown University provides Christ-centered higher education of the Head, Heart, and Hand.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instructional services - jbu currently enrolls more than 2,300 students in its three primary academic programs: traditional undergraduate, online undergraduate, and graduate. Through its instructional services, jbu offers more than 50 traditional undergraduate majors, 64 undergraduate minors, 12 graduate degrees, and 9 undergraduate online programs. The faculty to student ratio is 14:1. The top traditional programs of study by major enrollment are: nursing, psychology, construction management, graphic design, family & human services, mechanical engineering, kinesiology, computer science, biology, film, and art & illustration. The jbu online undergraduate program offers undergraduate degrees in business, interdisciplinary studies, and psychology. (continued on schedule o)the graduate school offers degrees in business, counseling, cybersecurity, and teacher education. The graduation rate is consistently above 65% and traditional undergraduate retention is above 80%. In addition to major level courses, undergraduates are required to take general education courses that emphasize the integration of intellectual and spiritual development.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% 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 62% for direct work, and 38% 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.8%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 86.6%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 20th 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: 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: 14.2%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.25; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 78.8% of revenue deployed · 86.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $70.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $522K · 37 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.2M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • 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: 9 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.