Northeastern University

Legal name: Mills College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
941156566
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2021
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2021, Form 990-T 2021
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6173732000
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$43,046,584
Expenses
$80,566,423
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH HILLMAN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH HILLMAN (PRESIDENT): $580,067 total reported compensation
  • MARIA CAMMARATA (VP FOR FINANCE & ADMIN / TREASURER): $265,705 total reported compensation
  • RENEE JADUSHLEVER (VP FOR STRATEGIC COMMS & OPERATIONS): $246,105 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mills college is an independent liberal arts college for women and gender nonbinary students, with graduate programs for all genders. The college educates students to think critically and communicate responsibly and effectively, to accept the challenges of their creative visions, and to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to effect thoughtful changes in a global, multicultural society.

What it reported doing in 2021

With a total enrollment of 868 students, representing 34 states and 12 countries, the college provides instruction, research, public service, and academic support to 461 undergraduate, 379 graduate, and 28 non-degree students. On the undergraduate side, students of color represent 66% of the class, and 44% are first-generation students; on the graduate side, students of color represent 59% of the class. The college's undergraduate hispanic population is 32%, making us eligible to declare as a hispanic-serving institution (hsi). The college provides financial aid, scholarships, and fellowships to both our undergraduate and graduate students. A total of 28% of our students receive cal grants, and 44% are eligible for pell grants. The percentage of graduate students receiving financial aid was 84%, with mills providing $2.8 million in scholarships and grants out of a total of $12.7 of any financial aid awarded to graduate students. Effective june 30, 2022, the organization merged with northeastern university.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 65% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 7
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -87.2%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th 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: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $64.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $580K · 35 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.6M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 37 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 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: 12 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.