Medaille University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
160805158
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2021
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone
7168802000
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$59,842,305
Expenses
$60,790,159
Assets
$40,462,047
Liabilities
$27,899,248

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KENNETH MACUR PHD (COLLEGE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KENNETH MACUR PHD (COLLEGE PRESIDENT): $378,172 total reported compensation
  • LORI MITERKO (VP BUSINESS & FINANCE): $177,443 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER LARUSSO (VP ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT): $148,206 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Medaille university concentrates on excellence in teaching, with an emphasis on personal attention to its diverse student body. Its curriculum provides a solid liberal arts and sciences foundation with early access to career-oriented education. The faculty and all of those involved in the mission of education challenge students and themselves to the highest possible standards of achievement, but that challenge is balanced by support for every individual student and a concern that each one succeeds.

What it reported doing in 2021

Administration of cutting-edge programs in multiple delivery formats that prepare students for career success and provide the foundation and integrative learning that will help them be engaged citizens, adapt to rapid change, and think globally.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 74% 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 60% for direct work, and 40% for grants.

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: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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; 51st 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: -1.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.69; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $47.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $378K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $703K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2009 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.