The American University in Cairo
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 135647700
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- New Cairo, NY, Egypt
- Phone
- +20.2.2615.1000
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- University or Technological Institute
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $220,998,600
- Expenses
- $190,953,498
- Assets
- $1,170,044,561
- Liabilities
- $81,344,204
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
38 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- AHMAD SALIM DALLAL (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- AHMAD SALIM DALLAL (PRESIDENT): $549,687 total reported compensation
- SUNANDA HOLMES (VP AND GENERAL COUNSEL): $407,944 total reported compensation
- EHAB MOHAMED ABDEL-RAHMAN (PROVOST): $311,859 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The American University in Cairo (AUC) is a leading English-language, American-accredited institution of higher education in Egypt, dedicated to fostering excellence in teaching, research, creative expression, and service.
What it reported doing in 2024
Other program servicesauxiliary enterprises (auc book store, press, transportation, and student housing): the auc press publishes annually up to 35 wide-ranging academic texts and general interest books on ancient and modern egypt and the middle east, as well as arabic literature in translation, for distribution worldwide, and maintains a backlist of more than 1,172 high-quality scholarly, literary, and general interest publications, including e-books. Through its bookstores and distributors in egypt and abroad, the auc press sold more than 105,000 books in fy 2025 and licenses foreign editions of arab writers in 40 languages, including the works of the late egyptian nobel laureate naguib mahfouz, and international bestseller alaa al aswany. The student housing facilities accommodate auc students in new cairo campus housing. During fy 2025, auc student resident facilities accommodated 717 students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 61% 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 77% for direct work, and 23% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 73
- Accountability: 93
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $92.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: 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; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 96.2%; rating input score 96; 50th 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: 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: 13.6%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.13; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 79.1% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 25 of 26 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $169.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $550K · 38 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.2M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.