Thomas University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
580644897
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Thomasville, GA, USA
Phone
2292261621
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,320,601
Expenses
$22,361,025
Assets
$25,222,840
Liabilities
$9,344,279

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

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR ANDY SHEPPARD (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR ANDY SHEPPARD (PRESIDENT): $385,457 total reported compensation
  • SUSAN BACKOFEN (VP OF ENROLLMENT): $131,686 total reported compensation
  • KURT STRINGFELLOW (VP OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT): $130,667 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Thomas university is an independent, not for profit, institution of higher education with undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare students for successful careers and responsible citizenship in a rapidly changing and complex world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Student services - a thomas university education includes curricular and co-curricular experiences which increase the trajectory of a student's development socially, physically, culturally, and intellectually. As a result, the overall student experience is one which gives students the opportunity to test the theoretical in real world applications, thus preparing them for life beyond higher education. These services include athletics, placement registrar, financial aid, security, business office and other support to current and former students. Enrolled students may become involved in one of the many different student organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 83% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 76.3%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 29th 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.3% of revenue deployed · 76.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $17.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $385K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $797K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.