Hamline University

Legal name: Trustees of the Hamline University of Minnesota

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410693960
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Phone
651-523-2421
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$123,348,922
Expenses
$119,357,117
Assets
$264,255,057
Liabilities
$48,503,982

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

Leadership & pay

41 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FAYNEESE MILLER (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • KATHLEEN MURRAY (PRESIDENT)
  • CATHERINE WASSBERG (VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL COUNSEL)
  • JILLIAM PETERSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - VPPRC)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHLEEN MURRAY (PRESIDENT): $525,704 total reported compensation
  • FAYNEESE MILLER (PAST PRESIDENT): $463,087 total reported compensation
  • CATHERINE WASSBERG (VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL COUNSEL): $312,866 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Hamline University provides a rigorous, relevant, and relationship-centered education that empowers students to lead lives of purpose, foster inclusive communities, and create positive change in the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Hamline university is a nationally-ranked, comprehensive university serving over 2,600 students in its college of liberal arts, school of education, and school of business. It offers undergraduate, masters, doctoral and professional degrees, as well as certificate and continuing studies programs. Founded in 1854, hamline university was the first institution of higher learning in Minnesota. The university has established a national reputation for academic quality, as well as providing students with personal attention and high-impact learning experiences. Hamline is one of approximately 290 phi beta kappa institutions in the united states. Among comprehensive universities, u.s. News and world report's 2024 rankings place hamline as the top Minnesota university in its category of best regional universities. It is one of only four private universities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the dakotas that rate within the top 20% for student's economic mobility, out of 1,320 of us colleges and universities, according to thirdway.org's 2022 rankings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 84% 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 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 88.8%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • 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: Pass
  • 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: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 51st 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: 3.2%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.21; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 87.7% of revenue deployed · 88.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 30 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $106M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $526K · 41 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.7M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 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: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.