The Howard University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530204707
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028066100
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,433,002,000
Expenses
$1,412,020,000
Assets
$2,979,645,000
Liabilities
$1,568,140,000

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

Leadership & pay

57 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HUGH MIGHTY (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF HEALTH AFFAIRS)
  • STEPHEN GRAHAM (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER)
  • BEN VINSON III (PRESIDENT)
  • TASHNI-ANN DUBROY (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OP. OFFICER)
  • FLORENCE PRIOLEAU (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL COUNSEL)
  • RASHAD YOUNG (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADMINISTRATION AND CHIEF)

Highest reported compensation

  • WAYNE FREDERICK (FORMER PRESIDENT, RET 9/1/23): $1,520,238 total reported compensation
  • BEN VINSON III (PRESIDENT): $1,080,698 total reported compensation
  • ANDREA A HAYES DIXON (DEAN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE): $1,028,967 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 howard university was established by an act of congress in 1867. The university is an institution that educates students, develops professionals, conducts research, and serves patients through 12 schools of higher education and an academic medical center.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education, general/other - howard university is a comprehensive research-oriented hisorically black private university providing an educational experience of exceptional quality to students of high academic potential with particular emphasis upon the provision of educational opportunities to all students. Howard university is the nation's top producer of minority lawyers, dentists, physicians and african american phds in the science and technology fields. The university serves a community of approximately 12,000 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% 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.

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: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.7%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: 1.5%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.11; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.53; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.7% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $956.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.5M · 57 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $105.8M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 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: 87 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 67 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.