McMurry University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
750855633
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Abilene, Texas, US
Phone
325-793-3800
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$72,848,371
Expenses
$62,346,022
Assets
$206,064,680
Liabilities
$29,830,904

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

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SANDRA HARPER (PRESIDENT (PART YEAR))
  • LYNNE MURRAY (PRESIDENT)
  • DR KENNETH WHEELER (AABOD PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SANDRA HARPER (PRESIDENT (PART YEAR)): $354,033 total reported compensation
  • MIKE HUTCHISON (VPIA): $254,076 total reported compensation
  • GRANT GREENWOOD (VP ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT): $186,501 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Shaped by christian principles, mcmurry university challenges students to examine our complex world from multiple perspectives in preparation for lives of leadership, service and professional success.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mcmurry university was founded in 1923 by the united methodist church. The university challenged students to grow academically and socially with 66 academic majors and 66 academic, social and service organizations. Also offered to our approximately 3,175 racially and ethnically diverse students, are professional preparation programs in athletic training, engineering, allied health, dentistry, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, veterinary medicine, law, and ministry along with a masters of accountancy and a masters of science in nursing in education or family nurse practitioner. The university is proud to offer a low student to faculty ratio of 16 to 1, average class size of 14 and does not use teaching assistants in the classrooms. Students can explore international culture by participating in an active national and international model un program and annual travel abroad educational programs. Also available to students is a student-run art gallery and artwork owned by the university appraised at $164k. The school of business has recently received a ten million dollar endowment and business students at mcmurry can participate in managing a one million dollar investment fund.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 48th 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: 14.4%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.31; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 22 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $52.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $354K · 36 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.5M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 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.

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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.