The George Washington University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530196584
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Jun 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Ashburn, VA, USA
Phone
5715538317
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,041,697,367
Expenses
$2,032,943,695
Assets
$5,460,399,051
Liabilities
$2,618,046,761

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

Leadership & pay

41 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ellen Granberg (President - Ex Officio)
  • Bruno Fernandes (Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer)
  • Jonathan Post (Vice President for Board Relations and Secretary of the University)
  • Sharon L Reich Paulsen (Former Executive vice president)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ellen Granberg (President - Ex Officio): $1,907,439 total reported compensation
  • Shahram Sarkani (Director and Professor of EMSE): $1,565,458 total reported compensation
  • Barbara Lee Bass (VP for Health Affairs and Dean of SMHS): $1,501,840 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 mission of the george Washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings of such research.

What it reported doing in 2024

Research and research support: gw's research is distinguished by our commitment to transform policy that affects people in their daily lives. This unique approach to research gives special character to our teaching and enables us to offer our students learning experiences that few can match. With our location, connections and close proximity to institutions such as the national institutes of health, national science foundation, the smithsonian institution, and library of congress, gw's research helps solve national and global problems while giving our students learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. In the 21st century, gw's faculty and students continue to open new doors of discovery.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 94% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 72% for direct work, and 28% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.69; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.8% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 22 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.8B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.9M · 41 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $143.5M reported
  • Consistency: 49 of 49 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 13 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 209 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 194 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.