Warner Pacific University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930386890
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5035171000
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,335,825
Expenses
$20,781,482
Assets
$26,896,609
Liabilities
$13,128,915

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN JOHNSON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN JOHNSON (PRESIDENT): $388,315 total reported compensation
  • CECELIA MONTO (VP FOR ACADEMICS, DEAN OF FACULTY): $208,845 total reported compensation
  • DOUGLAS WADE (EXECUTIVE VP/CFO): $205,534 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Warner pacific is a christ-centered urban liberal arts university dedicated to providing students from diverse backgrounds an education that prepares them to engage actively in a constantly changing world. Warner pacific university is accredited by the northwest commission on colleges and universities. Founded in 1937, today wpu offers a four-year christian liberal arts education in an urban setting on beautiful mt. Tabor in portland, Oregon. Our christ-centered, liberal arts approach invites students to seek answers to difficult questions and challenges them to expand their comfort zones in order to explore the ways in which they understand society, community, and faith. Faculty guide classes through real-world situations in programs frombusiness to education, nursing, criminal justice, health science and many other degrees. At warner pacific university, students discover their passions, develop their skills, and serve the greater community. Most students qualify for financial aid.

What it reported doing in 2024

Warner pacific university continues to be recognized for diversity and value. It is the most diverse university in Oregon, and the only christian university with a minority-serving mission in the pacific northwest. Wpu was Oregon's first four-year school to earn the prestigious hispanic-serving institution (hsi) designation from the u.s. Department of education, and also attained the prestigious federal designation of asian american, native american pacific islander-serving institution (aanapasi). The university has also received acclaimed rankings by the u.s. News & world report's best colleges in the regional west 2026 edition; earning #1 as top performer in social mobility; #7 in overall best value; and #6 (out of 97) in overall regional colleges in the west. We are particularly proud of the ranking in the social mobility category as it recognizes that economically disadvantaged students are less likely than others to finish college, even when controlling for other characteristics. Because of our role in serving as a pathway to success for minority and first-generation students, in the 2023-2024 school year wpu was chosen to receive a historic title v grant by the u.s. Department of education, the first university in Oregon to have received such an award. The 5-year grant will allow wpu to provide increased services to disadvantaged students including tutoring, mentoring, language support and other assistance. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, wpu was also chosen to receive a hawkins grant by the u.s. Department of education to provide teacher education programs to increase the number of bilingual teachers in Oregon.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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.
  • 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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; 72nd 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; 66th 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: -13.3%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.49; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.6% of revenue deployed · 74.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $15.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $388K · 23 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.7M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 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
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.