University Settlement

Legal name: University Settlement Society of New York

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
135562374
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, US
Phone
+1 (212) 453-4500
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$68,600,032
Expenses
$58,587,747
Assets
$36,396,592
Liabilities
$11,852,543

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RONNI FISHER (VICE PRESIDENT FOR PROGRAMS)
  • MELISSA E AASE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELISSA E AASE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $348,793 total reported compensation
  • LAURA MCGINLEY (CHIEF EXTERNAL RELATIONS OFFICER): $252,639 total reported compensation
  • RABIYA AKHTAR CHIEF (FINANCIAL ADMIN OFFICER, THRU 01/25): $244,145 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

University Settlement partners with 40,000+ New Yorkers in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn every year to build on our collective strengths as we achieve healthy, stable, and remarkable lives. For nearly 140 years, we’ve fought poverty and systemic inequality by building highly effective social services in collaboration with our neighbors.

What it reported doing in 2024

Childcare programs university settlement has an extensive track record for providing strengthsbased services to lowincome children and families. The settlements comprehensive approach to child and family services is based on creating trusting relationships with families to provide them with the necessary tools and skills to support their children's development. Childcare programs include early head start, two early childhood centers (the early childhood center and children's corner), and family child care. Family enrichment home visiting programs promote parentchild bonding and healthy child development. The butterflies program provides mental health services for young children and their families. We also provide individualized services for children under age three with developmental delays and disabilities through our early intervention program. All programs engage children in a rich curriculum that nurtures their intellectual, social and emotional development. Additionally, the agency engages parents through home visits, centerbased classroom sessions, support groups, workshops, educational/job training and policy council meetings, enabling them to gain the skills and knowledge to support their children's development and help them reach their full potential. Visits, centerbased classroom sessions, support potential.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 74% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $39.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.6%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 70.6% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 23 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $44.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $349K · 32 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $302K reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.