University of Mary

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
450273403
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Bismarck, ND, US
Phone
701-355-8030
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$111,552,517
Expenses
$98,529,836
Assets
$256,352,570
Liabilities
$49,583,604

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

Leadership & pay

40 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Monsignor James P Shea (President (See Sch O for details))
  • Sister Nicole Kunze (Prioress, President)
  • Jerome Richter (Executive Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jerome Richter (Executive Vice President): $233,632 total reported compensation
  • Monsignor James P Shea (President (See Sch O for details)): $229,618 total reported compensation
  • Diane Fladeland (VP of Academic Affairs): $196,413 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 University of Mary is a Catholic university dedicated to the education of the whole person through the integration of faith, reason, and service.

What it reported doing in 2024

Academic Divisions - This area contains the curriculum and related expenses for all divisions of the college, including both post-secondary education and graduate programs. University of Mary serves approximately 3,973 students and has 516 faculty and staff. They have five schools with more than 58 degree programs. In addition, there are 20 graduate degree programs and five doctoral degrees. They average a placement rate of approximately 96 percent overall for their graduates.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 81% 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.
  • 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: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.8%; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 89.7%; rating input score 90; 37th 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: 11.7%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.6; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 74.2% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 29 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $83.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $234K · 40 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $10.7M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 14 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: 5 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.