Reed College

Legal name: Reed Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930386908
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Portland, Oregon, United States
Phone
503-771-1112
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$234,628,051
Expenses
$165,205,645
Assets
$1,218,420,100
Liabilities
$187,186,631

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

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Audrey Bilger (President)
  • Lynn Valenter (Vice President of Finance and Treasurer)
  • Milyon Trulove (Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid)
  • Hugh Porter (Vice President for College Relations and Planning (through 6/30/24))
  • Karnell McConnell-Black (Vice President for Student Life)
  • Phyllis Esposito (Vice President and Dean for Institutional Diversity)

Highest reported compensation

  • Audrey Bilger (President): $839,699 total reported compensation
  • Erik Bernhardt (Chief Investment Officer): $530,266 total reported compensation
  • Lynn Valenter (Vice President of Finance and Treasurer): $438,659 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Reed aspires to offer a challenging—even transformational—education to talented students regardless of their families’ financial resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Institute had 26 research grants funded with federal funds. Departments funded were Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Math, Sociology, and the nuclear reactor.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 79% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% 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: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.1%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st 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: 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 51st 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: 29.6%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.38; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $150.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $840K · 44 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $18.7M reported
  • Consistency: 50 of 50 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 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: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.