Maryland Institute College of Art

Legal name: Maryland Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520591661
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Baltimore, MD, US
Phone
(410)225-2300
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$120,548,710
Expenses
$124,620,999
Assets
$317,526,300
Liabilities
$92,974,746

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

Leadership & pay

40 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CECILIA MCCORMICK (PRESIDENT)
  • SAMUEL HOI (FORMER PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SAMUEL HOI (FORMER PRESIDENT): $725,353 total reported compensation
  • CECILIA MCCORMICK (PRESIDENT): $591,376 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT SABAL (VP ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND PROVOST): $432,022 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

MICA activates your creativity— empowering you to make a difference now and throughout your career. This only-at-MICA education unleashes your ideas so you can make an impact in your life and the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Accredited college with programs in fine arts, applied arts, and art education; approximately 1,700 students, grants are disbursements for students' financial aid, student awards, fellowships, and for faculty development grants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 87% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 66% for direct work, and 34% 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.9%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th 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: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: -3.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.55; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.9% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $109.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $725K · 40 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.9M reported
  • Consistency: 47 of 47 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 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: 17 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.