Washington University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
430653611
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3149358283
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,899,375,814
Expenses
$5,466,387,066
Assets
$22,330,732,000
Liabilities
$4,493,817,016

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

Leadership & pay

80 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SCOTT WILSON (CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER): $13,031,999 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW CHOQUETTE (DEP CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER): $4,973,267 total reported compensation
  • DAVID PERLMUTTER (EXEC VC MEDICAL AFFAIRS): $2,480,417 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2024

Auxiliary and student support services - expenses incurred are primarily for the support of students. Auxiliary activities include student housing, food service, transportation and campus parking. Student services are those activities that directly support the students but do not qualify as management and general costs. Significant components include central and school-specific admissions, registrars, career planning and placement offices, student financial aid loan offices, student health services, athletics, student activities office, international students office, and the vice chancellor for students office.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 66% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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

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: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.1%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 95%; rating input score 95; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.7%; rating input score 93; 42nd 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: 7.3%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.09; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.9%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.1% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 38 of 41 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $13M · 80 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $212.1M reported
  • Consistency: 50 of 51 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 402 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 436 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.