University of St. Thomas

Legal name: University of St Thomas

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
741277664
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Houston, TX, US
Phone
713-525-3100
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$154,920,338
Expenses
$144,453,559
Assets
$290,793,797
Liabilities
$59,190,593

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

Leadership & pay

50 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR CHRISTOPHER EVANS (VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS (through 10/15/24))
  • DR RICHARD LUDWICK (UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT (through 12/31/24))
  • REV DEMPSEY ROSALES ACOSTA (Interim President (effective 1/1/25))
  • DR DOMINIC AQUILA (FORMER VICE PRESIDENT / (CURRENT FACULTY))
  • MR ARTHUR ORTIZ (FORMER VICE PRESIDENT/ (CURRENT STAFF))

Highest reported compensation

  • DR CHRISTOPHER EVANS (VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS (through 10/15/24)): $688,163 total reported compensation
  • DR RICHARD LUDWICK (UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT (through 12/31/24)): $531,940 total reported compensation
  • MS GITA BOLT (CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL (through 9/30/24)): $283,761 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We are the University of St. Thomas, the Catholic university in the heart of Houston. We are committed to the Catholic intellectual tradition and the dialogue between faith and reason. By pursuing excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service, we embody and instill in our students the core values of our founders, the Basilian Fathers: goodness, discipline and knowledge. We foster engagement in a diverse, collaborative community.

What it reported doing in 2024

The university of st. Thomas (the "university"), located in houston, Texas, was founded by the basilians fathers in 1947. The university, accredited by the southern association of colleges and schools commission on colleges, is an independent, co-educational catholic university offering bachelor's degrees in 43 subject areas, master's degrees in 33 subject areas and doctorate degrees in two subject areas. The university provides instruction and support services to 3,395 undergraduate and 958 graduate students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 81% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 60% for direct work, and 40% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 6.8%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.01; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 75.3% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 35 of 35 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $116.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $688K · 50 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $6.1M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.