Lehigh University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
240795445
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Bethlehem, PA, USA
Phone
610-758-4357
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$840,062,522
Expenses
$731,172,334
Assets
$3,464,195,116
Liabilities
$726,097,234

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

Leadership & pay

43 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSEPH J HELBLE (PRESIDENT)
  • JOHN D SIMON (PROFESSOR/FORMER PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KRISTIN AGATONE (CHIEF INVESTMENT OFF.): $1,429,710 total reported compensation
  • JOSEPH J HELBLE (PRESIDENT): $1,145,854 total reported compensation
  • NATHANIEL N URBAN (PROVOST): $785,941 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At Lehigh, real problem-solving, mentorship and collaboration lead to true and lasting impact—here on our campus, in the Lehigh Valley and well beyond. Located in Pennsylvania's vibrant Lehigh Valley, Lehigh University cultivates new knowledge and empowers pragmatic problem-solvers through collaborative research, faculty mentorship and a supportive community. At Lehigh, a focus on real-world impact gives students the foundation to become leaders who create meaningful change in their communities and the world. Learn about Lehigh’s mission and vision and values. Proof in the Making This is a celebration of our community of future makers. See how their work—from our campus to the cosmos, from challenge to change—makes a real and lasting impact. It's proof that our dedication to academic excellence empowers our community to shape a better futur.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction: lehigh is an independent, coeducational university with programs offered in four colleges: arts and sciences, business and economics, education, and engineering and applied sciences. An interdisciplinary mindset has long been a part of the lehigh culture and is evident in the university's approach to teaching and research. Lehigh's undergraduate and graduate students work in a collaborative environment, where they have the opportunity to work closely with faculty, staff and fellow students in a personalized setting. Lehigh university comprises five colleges, four of which confer undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees. The fifth college offers graduate-level programs only, including both master's and doctoral degrees. All five colleges actively collaborate on cross-disciplinary academic programs and faculty research initiatives, lehigh offers approximately 60 undergraduate and graduate degrees and offers more than 100 undergraduate programs and majors, featuring more than 2,100 courses. There are approximately 90 programs offered at the graduate level. In the fall of 2024, lehigh undergraduate enrollment was 5,878 fte undergraduate students and 1,373 fte graduate students."

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 76% 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 71% for direct work, and 29% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.9%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.36 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: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Pass
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

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: 13%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.74; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 95.9% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $633.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.4M · 43 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $87.6M reported
  • Consistency: 46 of 46 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 66 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 54 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.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 23/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.