Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

Legal name: St Marys University of Minnesota

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410695527
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Winona, MN, USA
Phone
800-635-5987
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$99,115,009
Expenses
$97,479,537
Assets
$197,842,358
Liabilities
$17,021,521

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BURNS FATHER JAMES (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BURNS FATHER JAMES (PRESIDENT): $482,914 total reported compensation
  • BONILLA MAX (FORMER PROVOST): $353,875 total reported compensation
  • KLEIN GARY (VP, ADVANCEMENT (TERM 05/2025)): $275,107 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Enriched by the Lasallian Catholic heritage, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota awakens, nurtures, and empowers learners to ethical lives of service and leadership.

What it reported doing in 2024

Student services: in 2024-2025, 316 traditional undergraduate students (about 38% of that population) participated in 15 ncaa division iii sports offered at saint mary's university. Participation in intramural activities annually is over 35%. The financial aid office processed $69,539,660 in loans, grants, work study and scholarship for the entire university in 2024-2025. 89 international students were enrolled at the university in 2024-2025. 47 students participated in the first generation initiative program, which offers selected students scholarships to attend the university and special support activities which include study halls, specialized advising and social activities which promote retention and student success. In addition student success center offers academic advising and tutoring/learning services, including new student orientation to all college students. Students can also make use of the writing center, international center, career services and interships, rise (recreation, involvement and student engagement) as well as campus ministry for a well rounded community experience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 83% 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 66% for direct work, and 34% 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.2%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.03; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 79.2% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $76.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $483K · 35 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $13.2M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 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: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.