Mount St. Mary's University

Legal name: Mount Saint Mary's University Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520591672
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Frederick, MD, US
Phone
301-447-5214
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$143,294,466
Expenses
$143,661,742
Assets
$219,701,574
Liabilities
$86,012,825

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GERARD J JOYCE (PRESIDENT)
  • TIMOTHY TRAINOR (FORMER PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • TIMOTHY TRAINOR (FORMER PRESIDENT): $374,216 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM E DAVIES (VP, BUSINESS & FINANCE): $347,155 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA HILL-CALLAHAN (VP, ADVANCEMENT): $298,917 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mount St. Mary's University, a Catholic university, educates students to become leaders in service to the Church, the community, and the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instructional programs for 2,737 students consisting of 2,020 undergraduate students, 197 graduate students in business administration, 223 graduate students in education, 126 graduate students in theology, 19 graduate students in health administration, 43 graduate students in biotechnology and management, 35 graduate students in sports management, 6 graduate students in philosophical studies, 87 graduate students in applied behavior analysis and 17 non-degree seeking graduate students. The university awarded a total of 634 degrees and certificates comprised of 386 bachelor's degrees, 38 post-baccalaureate certificates, 180 master's degrees, 26 theology master's degrees and 4 post-master's certificates.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% 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 58% for direct work, and 42% 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: 77
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd 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: Missing
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.3%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 90.8% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $129.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $374K · 47 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $16.7M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 13 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: 19 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.