St Catherine University

What it reported doing in 2024

St. Catherine university confers degrees at the associate, baccalaureate, master's and doctoral levels. The total 2024-2025 enrollment is 3,659 students: 94.1 percent women and 40.5 percent multicultural or international. St catherine university has a 10:1 student to faculty ratio. St catherine university ranks highly for social mobility, often cited as a top performer in Minnesota for helping students from low-income backgrounds succeed, with a 2024-2025 ranking of #52 among national institutions on social mobility by us news & world report. Nearly one-third of enrolled students are first generation students. St catherine university has had students selected for fullbright awards in multiple consecutive years with the very first recipient occurring in 1953. See schedule oduring the 2024-2025 academic year, st. Catherine university awarded 55 post secondary certificates, 187 associate degrees, 536 baccalaureate degrees, 32 post-baccalaureate certificates, 341 master's degrees, 4 post master's certificates and 87 doctorate degrees. St. Catherine university, also known as st. Kate's, is one of the largest private women's universities in the nation and one of the most culturally diverse campuses in Minnesota. 100% of st. Kate's students involved in collaborative research have been accepted to present at the national conference on undergraduate research (ncur) in the past ten years. In addition, st. Catherine university is the home of the oldest healthcare program in the state of Minnesota.launched in 2013 our 10 week summer scholars program engages student-faculty teams on research and creative projects. Compensation for faculty and students allows teams to focus on scholarship and promotes accessibility for high financial need students. Teams clarify expectations through a mentorship contract, discuss students' career goals, and participate in bi-directional, pre-post skills assessment of student reasearch and faculty mentorship. Community is fostered through social events and weekly professional development workshps on responsible conduct of research and career readiness. Faculty attend weekly mentor workshops to discuss inclusive mentoring and build scholarly community. A closing poster session showcases student research and builds students' sense of self-efficacy and belonging. Post-surveys consistently show that 100% of participants agree that after the program they "see themselves as scholars" when compared to pre-survey levels. Since 2021, collaborative research has supported 17 designated research and creative inquiry (rci)-intensive courses across 12 disciplines to extend research accessibility to the classroom. A total of 639 students have taken an rci course (44% bipoc, 50% pell, 26% first gen). The number of undergraduate research students in the exemplary program was 280 students, including many first and second year students. Notably student researcher demographics align with the diversity of our student body. In the past seven years the retention rate of summer scholars students in the subsequent fall was 100%. Summer scholars from 2018-2024 entering classes had a 100% graduation rate. Dissemination is a hallmark of the summer scholars program. For the past seven years 100% of summer scholars who submitted a proposal were accepted to present at the national confererence on undergraduate research (ncur). With operational funding for student travel, gift funds and foundation and federal grants 28 students were funded to present at ncur in 2024. Many students publish their research in peer-reviewed journals including student authored publications through a national institute of health (nih) r25 grant. This type of grant is designed to support educational activites related to biomedical, behavioral and clinical research

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 90.6%; rating input score 91
• Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
• Fundraising efficiency: $7.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • 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; 77th 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; 77th 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: 2.4%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.56; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings