John Cabot University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 980072997
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Rome, IT
- Phone
- 8664576160
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- University or Technological Institute
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $65,013,443
- Expenses
- $62,858,732
- Assets
- $166,827,840
- Liabilities
- $108,119,489
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
41 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Franco Pavoncello (President)
- Mary P Merva (Vice President for Academics)
- Jose B Alvarez (Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Operations)
Highest reported compensation
- TOTAL (SUMMARY): $1,719,512 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Academic Excellence in Rome John Cabot University is an American institution of higher education in Rome, Italy. The mission of the University is to provide an educational experience firmly rooted in the American tradition of the liberal arts and solidly international in orientation. The academic programs are designed to use to the fullest extent the special resources of a multicultural faculty, an international student body and the extraordinarily rich culture and history of Rome and the surrounding region.
What it reported doing in 2024
Jcu offers bachelor and master degrees in english in italy only. Jcu provided assistance to students via 532 scholarships. Jcu supported 21 resident assistants per semester during the 2024-2025 school year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 94% 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.
- 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: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st 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: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- 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: 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 3.3%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.65; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.65; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 83% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $53.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.7M · 41 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.1M reported
- Consistency: 50 of 50 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.