Mount St. Joseph University

Legal name: Mount St Joseph University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237179567
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
513-244-4200
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$77,219,442
Expenses
$74,279,864
Assets
$128,779,619
Liabilities
$23,960,176

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

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • H JAMES WILLIAMS (PRESIDENT)
  • PAIGE L ELLERMAN (SECRETARY/VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • H JAMES WILLIAMS (PRESIDENT): $473,214 total reported compensation
  • AMY MURDOCH (ASSISTANT DEAN OF READING SCIENCE): $231,554 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY C BRIGGS (TREASURER & CFO): $231,065 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. Joseph University is a Catholic academic community grounded in the spiritual values and vision of the Sisters of Charity. The University educates its students through interdisciplinary liberal arts and professional curricula, emphasizing values, integrity, and social responsibility.

What it reported doing in 2024

Undergraduate education - the university's undergraduate academic programs inspire excellence, intellectual challenge, and real life experiences. Majors are offered in business, behavioral and natural sciences, education, health sciences, and liberal arts. In addition, students have the opportunity to expand learning beyond the classroom through cooperative education, service learning and study abroad programs. The university offers programs tailored to traditional, adult and part-time students. The university reported enrollment of 1,460 for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 89% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, and 39% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.4%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 89.1%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • 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: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 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: 3.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 92.4% of revenue deployed · 89.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 30 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $66.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $473K · 38 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.5M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.