Rochester Christian University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 381619831
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Rochester Hills, MI, United States
- Phone
- (248) 218-2000
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $26,638,521
- Expenses
- $25,712,554
- Assets
- $30,669,889
- Liabilities
- $23,008,644
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Brian Stogner (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Brian Stogner (President): $236,187 total reported compensation
- Thomas Rellinger (Executive VP of Rochester College): $228,554 total reported compensation
- Klint Pleasant (SR VP - Athletic Director): $162,080 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Rochester Christian University provides multiple paths to higher education and cultivates academic excellence along with principled character, servant leadership, and global awareness within an inclusive Christian community. & Vision Statement Rochester Christian University will position itself as a Christ-centered, forward-looking, and globally connected institution by innovating academic programs, expanding its reach and impacting communities, scaling with efficiency, and elevating its brand to stand out as a destination for transformative Christian higher education. Our strategy directly supports the mission of empowering students to lead lives of personal and professional significance while serving God in a changing world, and our vision of becoming a global destination for innovative, relevant, values-driven education.
What it reported doing in 2024
Rochester christain university cultivates academic excellence, principled character, servant leadership, and global awareness through a rigorous educational experience that integrates liberal arts and professional studies within an inclusive christian heritage.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 91% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 59% for direct work, and 41% for grants.
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: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 88
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.6%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 3.5%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.75; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd 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: 80.6% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $21.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $236K · 24 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.