Northeastern University FY2020 filing

Tax-deductible

Boston, MA501(c)(3)Since 1898EducationEIN 04-1679980

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501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
91¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$12.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

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FY2020 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
5 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $209.8M a year · 9% of revenue · last 5 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 5 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
91%
of spending
Looks good: 91% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$12.7M
to officers and key staff · 0.7% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 1% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
3 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 3.4 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
29
named funders · $1.1M
Looks good: 29 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$1.4B
38% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 38% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
36
of 37 voting members
Looks good: 36 of 37 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$1.9B
Spent
$1.7B
To programs
91%
Net assets
$2.2B
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$1.9B
FY2020
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$1.9B
FY2021$2.1B
FY2022$2.4B
FY2023$2.6B
FY2024$3.0B
FY2024$3.2B
Expenses
$1.7B
FY2020
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$1.7B
FY2021$1.8B
FY2022$2.1B
FY2023$2.5B
FY2024$2.8B
FY2024$3.1B
Net assets
$2.2B
FY2020
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$2.2B
FY2021$2.7B
FY2022$3.5B
FY2023$3.7B
FY2024$4.1B
FY2024$4.3B

From the FY2020 Form 990 (year ending June 2020) · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Apr 1995.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

91 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 91% · $1.6B Management & general 7% · $127.2M Fundraising 1% · $22.3M

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

59 people listed on the 990; $12.7M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2019); the FY2020 filing did not itemize Part VII
President/Trustee
$1,338,276Pt VII · Sec A
SVP of University Advancement
$1,073,403Pt VII · Sec A
Provost & SVP Academic Affairs
$834,323Pt VII · Sec A
SVP and General Counsel
$785,033Pt VII · Sec A
SVP Finance and Treasurer
$690,360Pt VII · Sec A
FMR SVP & CEO Life. Learn. Net
$645,217Pt VII · Sec A
Dunton Family Deanship
$624,926Pt VII · Sec A
SR Vice Provost - Research
$611,008Pt VII · Sec A

Joseph E Aoun’s $2.2M as President/Trustee is at the 91st percentile of top reported officer pay among 674 $100M+ education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Joseph E Aoun$2,220,000$1,831,836$1,678,748$2,568,096$1,117,958$1,338,276
Diane N Macgillivray$1,108,421$1,019,739$944,117$1,242,785$735,210$1,073,403
Ralph C Martin II——$363,614$1,227,042$719,415$785,033
David Madigan$1,172,788$1,056,069$977,817$931,137$483,179—
Satyajit Dattagupta$1,130,658$1,015,257$910,847———
Thomas Nedell$1,129,671$1,033,794$929,193$919,600$907,579$690,360
David De Cremer$1,096,905$551,754————
Usama M Fayyad$804,098$1,061,427$717,757$793,692——

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
  • Loans to or from officersSch L · Pt II1 listed

Programs and updates

Educates students through academic programs and provides housing and related services.

Provided by the organization

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3 program services account for $978.8M of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2019.
01

Instruction northeastern enables 39,730 students to fulfill their educational goals by providing teaching and advising that result in the granting of associate, bachelor, master and doctoral degrees in a variety of academic disciplines.

$482.2Mprogram expense
02

Student financial aid Northeastern awards grants and scholarships to students from several sources: federal and state governments, institutionally-funded and endowment/donor funded. The Office of Student Financial Services administers financial aid and is committed to working with students to identify financial aid options that can help…

$369.4Mprogram expense
03

Auxiliary enterprises northeastern provides student housing in 34 residential buildings and other related program services.

$127.2Mprogram expense

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Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
See all 29 funders →
Grants paid · 925 grants · $263.3M · 2019–2024
US Ignite INCDC · FY2024$6,842,860
University of Massachusetts-AmherstFY2024$2,454,010
University of North TexasFY2024$1,999,473
Integrated Solutions for SystemsFY2024$1,684,303
University of PittsburghPA · FY2024$1,486,583
University of South FloridaFY2024$1,140,915
Trustees of Boston UniversityMA · FY2024$1,134,585
Indiana UniversityIN · FY2024$952,744
Recinto De Ciencias MedicasFY2024$600,355
Rutgers the State UniversityNJ · FY2024$585,717
University of FloridaFL · FY2024$583,268
University of WashingtonFY2024$543,790
See all 925 grants →

By the numbers

The FY2020 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$1.9B
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$1.6B
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$309.0M
Investment incomeLn 3$74.1M
Money outPt IX
$1.7B
Ln 25
Programscol B$1.6B
Managementcol C$127.2M
Fundraisingcol D$22.3M
Owns and owesPt X
$2.2B
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$481.3M
Total assetsLn 16$3.6B
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.4B
PeoplePt VI, VII
59
listed · VII A
PaidVII A22
Voting boardVI 1a37
IndependentVI 1b36
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$309.0M
Government grantsLn 1e$142.5M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$7.5M
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$89K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$1.6B
Investment incomeLn 3$74.1M
Other incomeLn 4–11$9.8M
Gains on assetsLn 7$49.3M
Total revenueLn 12$1.9B
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$42.6M
SavingsLn 2$438.7M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$481.3M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$1.16B
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$1.62B
Other assetsLn 15$51.3M
Total assetsLn 16$3.6B
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.4B
Net assetsLn 32$2.2B
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 525,790
VolunteersI 6509
Fiscal year endsHeaderJune
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY20End FY20
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$338.2M$481.3M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$1.27B$1.16B
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$1.54B$1.62B
Total assetsLn 16$3.42B$3.60B
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.40B$1.38B
Net assetsLn 32$2.02B$2.22B
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$37.0M$37.0M
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$369.4M$369.4M
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$574K$574K
Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4$0
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$10.0M$2.9M$6.1M$978K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$847K$847K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$592.3M$538.4M$41.9M$12.1M
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$35.8M$32.5M$2.5M$729K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$62.8M$57.1M$5.7M$4K
Payroll taxesLn 10$34.7M$31.6M$2.5M$708K
Management feesLn 11a$611K$611K
Legal feesLn 11b$4.8M$27K$4.7M
Accounting feesLn 11c$713K$713K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$216K$198K$18K
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$0
Investment management feesLn 11f$2.8M$2.8M
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$16.4M$16.4M$9K$456
Advertising and promotionLn 12$6.4M$4.6M$1.8M$13K
Office expensesLn 13$40.8M$35.9M$3.3M$1.6M
Information technologyLn 14$50.6M$35.4M$15.2M
RoyaltiesLn 15$193K$193K$24
OccupancyLn 16$71.3M$68.7M$2.4M$177K
TravelLn 17$23.1M$21.7M$838K$510K
Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18$0
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$2.7M$2.4M$297K$41K
InterestLn 20$36.2M$34.6M$1.3M$371K
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$0
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$75.5M$60.6M$11.8M$3.1M
InsuranceLn 23$3.4M$1.1M$2.3M
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$122.4M$111.0M$10.4M$1.0M
All other expensesLn 24e$102.2M$90.6M$10.6M$952K
Total functional expensesLn 25$1.70B$1.55B$127.2M$22.3M

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 $3.0B$2.8B$223.6M$4.1B 990 PDF
FY2023 $2.6B$2.5B$125.7M$3.7B 990 PDF
FY2022 $2.4B$2.1B$246.5M$3.5B 990 PDF
FY2021 $2.1B$1.8B$213.6M$2.7B 990 PDF
FY2020 Viewing $1.9B$1.7B$239.6M$2.2B 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2020 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,943,632,573 across 13 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $12,043 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1c Fundraising events$89,315
VIII-1e Government grants$142,502,488
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$166,414,197
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$7,495,200
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$309,006,000
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $1,545,891,212 · Excluded from tax $4,900,426$1,550,791,638
VIII-3 Investment incomeUnrelated business −$168,553 · Excluded from tax $24,956,399$24,787,846
VIII-5 RoyaltiesExcluded from tax $943,333$943,333
VIII-6 Net rental income or lossExcluded from tax $8,292,551$8,292,551
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $49,268,330$49,268,330
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$27,565−$27,565
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Unrelated business $558,397$558,397
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $1,545,891,212 · Unrelated business $389,844 · Excluded from tax $88,345,517$1,943,632,573
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,704,024,042 across 31 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $36,994,972$36,994,972
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $369,415,227$369,415,227
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $574,377$574,377
IX-4 Benefits paid to or for members$0
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $2,909,886 · Management $6,134,233 · Fundraising $977,779$10,021,898
IX-6 Pay of disqualified personsPrograms $846,959$846,959
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $538,380,532 · Management $41,894,157 · Fundraising $12,069,215$592,343,904
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $32,520,184 · Management $2,530,563 · Fundraising $729,025$35,779,772
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $57,123,404 · Management $5,721,444 · Fundraising $4,193$62,849,041
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $31,576,318 · Management $2,457,116 · Fundraising $707,866$34,741,300
IX-11a Management feesPrograms $610,979$610,979
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $27,269 · Management $4,748,798$4,776,067
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $713,459$713,459
IX-11d Lobbying feesPrograms $198,320 · Management $17,524$215,844
IX-11e Professional fundraising fees$0
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $2,818,014$2,818,014
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $16,435,224 · Management $9,280 · Fundraising $456$16,444,960
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $4,644,659 · Management $1,779,874 · Fundraising $12,730$6,437,263
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $35,949,203 · Management $3,269,702 · Fundraising $1,622,090$40,840,995
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $35,442,200 · Management $15,153,375$50,595,575
IX-15 RoyaltiesPrograms $193,386 · Fundraising $24$193,410
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $68,693,149 · Management $2,434,626 · Fundraising $177,053$71,304,828
IX-17 TravelPrograms $21,707,335 · Management $837,871 · Fundraising $510,350$23,055,556
IX-18 Travel and entertainment for public officials$0
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $2,400,388 · Management $296,840 · Fundraising $41,372$2,738,600
IX-20 InterestPrograms $34,582,045 · Management $1,288,552 · Fundraising $371,217$36,241,814
IX-21 Payments to affiliates$0
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $60,610,205 · Management $11,815,255 · Fundraising $3,088,430$75,513,890
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $1,120,322 · Management $2,290,589$3,410,911
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $110,954,409 · Management $10,377,120 · Fundraising $1,025,752$122,357,281
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $90,635,146 · Management $10,599,832 · Fundraising $952,168$102,187,146
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $1,554,546,098 · Management $127,188,224 · Fundraising $22,289,720$1,704,024,042
Part X · Balance sheet $3,597,441,000 assets, 24 lines filed
Asset lines not itemized here account for $21,141,000; see the IRS return.
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $18,970,000$42,569,000
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $319,233,000$438,744,000
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $103,653,000$190,953,000
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $87,927,000$64,873,000
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $0$0
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $15,662,000$10,232,000
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $1,543,666,000$1,616,929,000
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $701,025,000$434,667,000
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $572,043,000$726,052,000
X-13 Program-related investmentsStart of year $0$0
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $0$0
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $33,752,000$51,281,000
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $3,421,451,000$3,597,441,000
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $194,523,000$196,384,000
X-18 Grants payableStart of year $9,204,000$10,753,000
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $193,038,000$190,125,000
X-20 Tax-exempt bond liabilitiesStart of year $688,839,000$637,605,000
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $125,000$30,932,000
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $102,700,000$112,738,000
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $1,397,494,000$1,379,607,000
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $1,427,755,000$1,509,658,000
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $596,202,000$708,176,000
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $2,023,957,000$2,217,834,000
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $3,421,451,000$3,597,441,000
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $2,217,834,000 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$1,943,632,573
XI-2 Total expenses$1,704,024,042
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$239,608,531
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$2,023,957,000
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments−$22,264,000
XI-9 Other changes in net assets−$23,467,531
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$2,217,834,000

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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