Truett McConnell University

Legal name: Truett Mcconnell University Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
580531392
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Cleveland, GA, USA
Phone
706-865-2134 ext. 3804
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community or Junior Colleges
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$33,634,563
Expenses
$34,853,539
Assets
$53,835,691
Liabilities
$26,722,847

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR EMIR F CANER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR EMIR F CANER (PRESIDENT): $484,038 total reported compensation
  • DR STACY HALL (VP OF ADVANCEMENT): $168,254 total reported compensation
  • JENNI SHEPARD (VP FOR STUDENT LIFE & ATHL): $143,610 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Truett McConnell University equips students to boldly fulfill the Great Commission, whether they are called to teach, preach, or heal.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction - the mission of truett mcconnell university is to equip students with the truth, through a bibilically-centered education, to fulfill the great commission. Tmu encompasses a family of godly scholars, staff, and students with the goal of fostering a christian worldview. The university, proudly affiliated with the Georgia baptist convention, has a rich heritage dating back to 1946. It is named after two southern baptist preachers george w. Truett and fernando mcconnell.today, the university is an accredited institution that offers fifty baccalaureate majors in the fields of business, communicatiion, education, the humanities, music, nursing, psychology & biblical counselig, public service, stem and theology & missions. Additionally, master's degrees are offered in, business administration, divinity, education, global studies, clinical mental health counseling, bible & theology. Students choosing truett mcconnell university will be academically challenged by some of the brightest scholars in their respective fields of study. Ultimately, the blend between academic excellence and christian virtue provides the graduate with the greatest ability to succeed in life. The truth matters to a greater degree. This motto is focused around these four pillars: love the lord, love his word, love the church and love the lost. In may 2024 tmu conferred 170 graduate and undergraducate degrees.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 88% 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 71% for direct work, and 29% for grants.

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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.5%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -3.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.54; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 86.5% of revenue deployed · 84.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $29.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $484K · 35 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.2M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.