Sarah Lawrence College
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237223216
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2011
- Location
- Bronxville, NY, USA
- Phone
- 914-395-2200
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $149,454,371
- Expenses
- $149,685,113
- Assets
- $315,160,558
- Liabilities
- $106,974,477
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
41 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD (PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE)
Highest reported compensation
- CRISTLE COLLINS JUDD (PRESIDENT/TRUSTEE): $694,952 total reported compensation
- PATRICIA GOLDMAN (VP ADVANCEMENT & EXTERNAL RELATIONS): $423,514 total reported compensation
- KANWAL SINGH (PROVOST & DEAN OF FACULTY): $362,594 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college known for its pioneering approach to education, emphasizing rigorous academic inquiry, individualized study, and close mentorship.
What it reported doing in 2024
Undergraduate programs: the freedom to steer your own education has always been the basis of sarah lawrence's academic approach. Students create a course of study that is uniquely theirs, benefiting from a 11:1 student-to-faculty ratio and 1:1 conferences with faculty. Students engage in a level of intellectual and creative development that prepares them for a life of meaning in whatever professional pathways they choose. Our 1,400 degree-seeking students can focus in any of our nearly 50 disciplines on our campus or in global studies programs in london, oxford, paris, and havana.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 91% 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 59% for direct work, and 41% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89.1%; rating input score 89
- Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 42nd 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: -0.2%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.11; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th 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: 89.1% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 26 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $129.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $695K · 41 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.9M reported
- Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 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: 13 filed money-flow records
- 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 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.