Washington College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520591691
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Chestertown, MD, USA
Phone
410-778-2800
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$132,277,197
Expenses
$113,449,992
Assets
$567,114,447
Liabilities
$81,574,844

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL SOSULSKI (PRESIDENT (UNTIL 7/31/25))
  • BRIAN SPEER (VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COM)
  • JOHNNIE JOHNSON (VICE PRESIDENT FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT)
  • MICHAEL HARVEY (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL SOSULSKI (PRESIDENT (UNTIL 7/31/25)): $643,151 total reported compensation
  • SUSANNAH C SUTLEY (VP, ADVANCEMENT, ALUMNI AF): $305,502 total reported compensation
  • BRIAN SPEER (VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COM): $259,834 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Discover a place where intellectual curiosity meets opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2024

Washington college's residential life program provides students with opportunities and experiences that help them to develop responsibilities both to themselves and to their fellow students. It attempts to provide a relaxing and calm atmosphere for study and day-to-day living. Indeed, living on-campus is truly the "other-half" of a college education. With approximately 27 dorms to choose from, students have choices of single, doubles or triples in each room/unit. Hodson hall houses the dining facilities for Washington college. The main dining hall seats 500 on two levels. Students, faculty and staff find made-to-order meals along with self-serve options allowing for a customized dining experience. Students choose from five meals plans with additional options for meal equivalencies. Casual dining is located on the first floor of the commons. Operating until late evening, options include mondo subs, martha's kitchen, and the campus coffee bar, java george.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% 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 64% for direct work, and 36% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.7%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 81%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd 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: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Pass
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.2%; rating input score 97; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 14.2%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 95.7% of revenue deployed · 81% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 35 of 36 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $91.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $643K · 47 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.7M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 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: 15 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: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.