The University of the South

Legal name: University of the South

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
620475697
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Sewanee, TN, USA
Phone
931.598.1000
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Education N.E.C.
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$246,056,453
Expenses
$193,784,099
Assets
$882,375,531
Liabilities
$97,316,617

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

Leadership & pay

182 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Robert Pearigen (Vice Chancellor/President)
  • Nancy Berner (Former Vice Chancellor/President)
  • Sibby Anderson Thompkins (Vice President for Community Building and Connections)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robert Pearigen (Vice Chancellor/President): $628,437 total reported compensation
  • Nancy Berner (Former Vice Chancellor/President): $352,733 total reported compensation
  • Earl Williams (Treasurer thru June 30, 2025): $301,416 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 the South provides a transformative liberal arts education that fosters intellectual growth, ethical leadership, and a commitment to service, grounded in the Episcopal tradition.

What it reported doing in 2024

Instruction: in the college of arts and sciences, students work closely with distinguished and diverse faculty in a demanding course of humane and scientific study that prepares them for lives of achievement and service. A student-faculty ratio of 11:1 enables close student-faculty interaction in the classroom and allows for faculty guidance in student research.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 87% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 65% for direct work, and 35% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.5%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.1%; rating input score 97; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.2%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.55; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th 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: 90.5% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 166 of 171 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $170.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $628K · 182 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $16.7M reported
  • Consistency: 48 of 48 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 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: 16 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.