Oberlin College & Conservatory

Legal name: Oberlin College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
340714363
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Oberlin, OH, USA
Phone
440-775-8121
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$362,974,600
Expenses
$344,444,539
Assets
$2,233,785,743
Liabilities
$453,263,452

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

Leadership & pay

51 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CARMEN AMBAR (PRESIDENT)
  • JOSHUA JENSEN (Vice President, Communications)
  • JULIENNE MELVIN (Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration)
  • KAREN GOFF (Vice President and Dean of Students)
  • MANUEL CARBALLO (Vice President/Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid)
  • MATTHEW LAHEY (Vice President, Gen Counsel & Secretary)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARMEN AMBAR (PRESIDENT): $879,781 total reported compensation
  • JUN YANG (CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER): $842,668 total reported compensation
  • KAREN GOFF (Vice President and Dean of Students): $378,188 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, known for its historic commitment to academic excellence, social justice, and environmental sustainability.

What it reported doing in 2024

Oberlin College is a liberal arts institution made up of the College of Arts & Sciences and the Conservatory of Music. The College served 2,886 full-time equivalent undergraduate students, awarding scholarships to 2,957 of them. The average student received $37,555 in financial aid. The College is essentially residential. The balance of the student body is housed in private off campus housing within the City of Oberlin, Ohio.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 87% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 65% for direct work, and 35% 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: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th 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: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.8%; rating input score 97; 52nd 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: 5.1%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.49; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 31 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $321.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $880K · 51 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $99.1M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 31 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 17 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.