Saybrook University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 942155109
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Pasadena, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6263165300
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $27,273,155
- Expenses
- $23,834,722
- Assets
- $25,402,088
- Liabilities
- $6,660,917
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Michael Horowitz (Corporate President/Trustee)
- Robyn Parker (Interim President (until 4/25))
Highest reported compensation
- Michael Horowitz (Corporate President/Trustee): $1,747,997 total reported compensation
- Nathan Long (Trustee/College Pres. (until 6/24)): $568,816 total reported compensation
- Jennifer Gantz (Corporate Treasurer): $400,478 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our leadership team embodies Saybrook’s humanistic mission, dedicating themselves to upholding the values that help students discover their purpose.
What it reported doing in 2024
The University comprises two schools: the College of Social Sciences, which offers degrees in Humanistic and Clinical Psychology, Counseling (M.A. and Ph.D.), Leadership and Management (M.A. and Ph.D. in Organizational Systems and M.A. in Management), and Transformative Social Change (M.A. and Ph.D.); and the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, which offers degrees in Mind-Body Medicine (M.A. and Ph.D.) and Integrative and Functional Nutrition (M.S. and Ph.D.). The University also offers certificates, continuing education, and professional studies in several of these areas. The learning model includes online-hybrid and residential formats. Saybrook served over 1,000 students during the fiscal year ended May 31, 2025.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 53
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 85
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 56.3%; rating input score 56
- Program expense ratio: 66.2%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: $1.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- 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: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 12.6%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 56.3% of revenue deployed · 66.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $15.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.7M · 23 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $963K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 10 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 3/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.