William Peace University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
560529988
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
9195082035
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Community or Junior Colleges

Reported finances

Revenue
$26,874,041
Expenses
$34,542,348
Assets
$84,352,182
Liabilities
$30,717,572

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LYNN MORTON (PRESIDENT (AS OF 5/24))
  • BRIAN RALPH (FORMER PRESIDENT (THRU 6/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN RALPH (FORMER PRESIDENT (THRU 6/24)): $288,750 total reported compensation
  • LYNDA SZYMANSKI (VP OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $246,593 total reported compensation
  • BELINDA BURKE (CFO, VP OF FINANCE AND ADMIN): $243,893 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

William peace university is a private four-year university in downtown raleigh, North Carolina. The mission of the university is to prepare students for careers in the organizations of tomorrow. Rooted in the liberal arts tradition, the student develops an appreciation for life-long learning, a focus on meaningful careers, and skills for ethical citizenship. On average, over 95 percent of our graduates go on to jobs or careers within a year of graduation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Auxiliary enterprises: there are 6 residence halls on campus at william peace university. Each residence hall has its particular style and history. Resident assistants live on each floor, ready to answer questions, foster group discussions, organize activities and more. Wpu rooms include wired and wireless internet, free basic cable and no cost laundry. Additionally, wpu provides the option of university affiliated student housing to all sophomore, junior and senior students. These off campus apartments provide an excellent student housing community in raleigh, with four bedroom options to fit all lifestyles. Operating in the same manner as on campus housing, village green at raleigh apartments have william peace university resident staff living on site. The newly renovated belk dining hall offers tasty, nutritional food options, including a salad bar, deli, cooked to order expo station and a variety of daily cooked meals. Peace perk, the on campus coffee shop, offers starbucks coffee, sandwiches, snacks and a place to hang out. The wpu bookstore is the best place to find pacer gear.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% 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 63% for direct work, and 37% for grants.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th 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: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: -28.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.44; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $27.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $289K · 32 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $234K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.