Trinity Western University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237204465
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Langley, British Columbia, CA
Phone
6048887511
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$100,066,113
Expenses
$95,183,853
Assets
$225,375,465
Liabilities
$48,880,572

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mark Husbands (Board Member, former President)
  • Aklilu Mulat (Executive Vice President & CFO)
  • Todd Martin (President)
  • John Rhea (Vice President of Student Life)
  • James Tweedy (Vice-President, Marketing & Communications)
  • Ann Barnard Ball (Senior Vice President, Advancement)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mark Lee (Faculty): $378,450 total reported compensation
  • Mark Husbands (Board Member, former President): $313,672 total reported compensation
  • Chen Liu (Faculty): $307,619 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university that equips students to set the foundation for a full and meaningful life.

What it reported doing in 2024

University Educational Programming - Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four locations in Canada: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 91% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 95.4%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.37; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 74.2% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 73.5% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 70.5% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 91% of revenue deployed · 95.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $90.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $378K · 31 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 44 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.