Central European University

Legal name: The Central European University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133956444
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2125480600
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$82,160,747
Expenses
$109,087,950
Assets
$434,149,809
Liabilities
$23,328,822

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHALINI RANDERIA (PRESIDENT AND RECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • ALEXANDER SOROS (TRUSTEE)
  • ANDREAS TREICHL (TRUSTEE)
  • ANTONIO FOGLIA (TRUSTEE)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Central European University (CEU) is a private university located in Vienna, Austria. CEU - One of the Leading Universities in Austria for International Students Today, CEU is a new model for international education, a center for the study of contemporary economic, social and political challenges, and a source of support for building open and democratic societies that respect human rights and human dignity. Since its foundation in 1991, CEU has grown from its regional roots to become a global institution, with students from over 150 countries, many of whom devote special attention to emerging democracies worldwide. CEU's faculty represent more than 30 countries, enabling an extraordinary exchange of perspectives.

What it reported doing in 2024

The vera and donald blinken open society archives (osa) at central european university is a complex archival institution. Osa is both a repository of important collections, primarily related to the history of the cold war and grave international human rights violations, and a laboratory of archival experiments on new ways of assessing, contextualizing, presenting, and making use of archival documents. Osa is a research institute dealing with archival, taxonomical, informational and historical problems related to its holdings, and also reflecting on the role, obligations, and limits (as well as on overcoming these) of repositories that preserve important historical sources. Osa, its holdings, and the research based on our collections, are the basis of an expanding teaching program. Osa receives students from the ceu and institutions around the globe, who come here to study the role and use of archival evidence, the changing functions of the archives, how to build trust in new types of archival institutions, and the special methodological problems of studying the sources of the fantasies on which the cold war was constructed. Osa is an archive of the copy, meaning that we are primarily interested in the content, rather than the materiality of our documents; we actively seek out non-traditional documents material previously marginalized based on its content, social origin, or form. Osa is also "an archive of last resort," helping important organizations and institutions whose holdings are in danger for organizational, ideological or political reasons, to find secure and professional archive for their endangered documents. One of osa's aims is to broaden access to primary sources by overcoming technical, legal, geographic, and socio-cultural barriers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.7%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,390.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • 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: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -32.8%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.98; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $108.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.