University of Alberta

Legal name: The Governors of the University of Alberta

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
986001254
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Phone
7804920878
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,591,498,000
Expenses
$1,583,660,000
Assets
$4,796,853,000
Liabilities
$2,586,060,000

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Morck Randall K (Mr): $452,933 total reported compensation
  • Wong Edy Lai-Man (Mr): $365,126 total reported compensation
  • Jamal Karim (Mr): $350,262 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The University of Alberta is a Top 4 Canadian university and one of the Top 100 in the world, offering undergraduate and graduate programs, research, and community engagement.

What it reported doing in 2025

General Operations - This fund includes the provincial government operating grant, tuition fee revenue, investment income available for general spending and any new revenues generated by faculties and administrative units. Approximately 40,061 students from all Canadian provinces and territories and 156 other countries, participating in: College of Health Sciences (Kinesiology, Sport, + Recreation; Medicine + Dentistry; Nursing; Pharmacy + Pharmaceutical Sciences; School of Public Health; Rehabilitation Medicine); College of Natural + Applied Sciences (Agricultural, Life + Environmental Sciences; Engineering; Science); College of Social Sciences + Humanities (Alberta School of Business; Arts; Education; Law); Faculties (Augustana; Campus Saint-Jean (French); Extension; Graduate Studies + Research; Native Studies)

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • 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 does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $39.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 44.3%; rating input score 44; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 69.6%; rating input score 70; 11th 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: 0.5%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.03; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 97.6% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.5B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $453K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $58.8M reported
  • Consistency: 47 of 48 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 20 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.