St Olaf College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410693979
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Northfield, MN, USA
Phone
5077862222
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$333,072,638
Expenses
$295,499,530
Assets
$1,238,766,221
Liabilities
$180,776,162

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SUSAN RUNDELL SINGER (PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID ANDERSON (FORMER PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUSAN RUNDELL SINGER (PRESIDENT): $622,143 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL BERTHELSEN (VP AND CFO): $334,966 total reported compensation
  • MARCI SORTOR (PROVOST AND DEAN OF THE COLLEGE): $318,220 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

St. Olaf college challenges students to excel in the liberal arts, examine faith and values, and explore meaningful vocation in an inclusive, globally engaged community nourished by lutheran tradition.

What it reported doing in 2024

Postsecondary education - four year, residential, liberal arts education. In the 2024-2025 academic year, st. Olaf college enrolled 3,087 full time students and 27 part time students. The graduating class of 2025 had 682 graduates. A student to faculty ratio of 11.8:1 supports st. Olaf students with classroom, laboratory, and off-campus experiences. St. Olaf college is accredited as a degree-granting instituition by the higher learning commission of the north central association of colleges and secondary schools. The college's academic programs are also accredited by the american chemical society, commission on collegiate nursing education, council on social work education, national association of schools of dance, national association of schools of music, national association of schools of theatre, and national council for accreditation of teacher education.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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 48% for direct work, and 52% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.5%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • 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; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: 11.3%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.19; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.5% of revenue deployed · 92.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $274.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $622K · 42 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $22.7M reported
  • Consistency: 46 of 46 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 14 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: 24 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.
  • 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 20/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.