Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Nov 1950.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
91 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
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
50 people listed on the 990; $3.5M paid to officers and key staff.
Leon Botstein’s $565K as President/Trustee is at the 48th 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
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leon Botstein | $565,417 | $575,000 | $575,000 | $441,537 | $444,551 | $439,651 |
| Tom Eccles | $467,098 | $464,994 | $479,891 | $404,891 | $380,891 | $354,254 |
| Taun Toay | $392,595 | $392,502 | $343,400 | $380,000 | $271,127 | $216,632 |
| Jonathan Becker | $391,251 | $392,001 | $343,400 | $380,000 | $243,702 | $241,901 |
| Karen Zorn | $335,761 | $321,208 | $311,852 | $286,846 | $269,811 | $245,046 |
| James Brudvig | — | — | $272,647 | $267,481 | $271,220 | $288,183 |
| James Bagwell | — | $220,575 | $280,158 | $209,775 | $207,775 | $204,695 |
| Debra Pemstein | $276,723 | $257,516 | $250,866 | $248,382 | $248,382 | $246,547 |
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 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
- Loans to or from officersSch L · Pt II1 listed
Programs and updates
Provides a rigorous liberal arts education through collaborative undergraduate programs, graduate studies, and specialized research institutes on a historic Hudson River campus.
Questions for Bard College
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Bard college is an independent, comprehensive liberal arts college located on a park-like campus that covers more than 1,000 acres of fields and forested land bordering the hudson river. Bard has developed a new vision and model of the liberal arts college, as a central body surrounded by significant institutes and programs -…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2023 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY23 | End FY23 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $69.6M | $22.4M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $28.4M | $49.4M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $283.2M | $281.9M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $962.7M | $1.01B |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $355.1M | $450.0M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $607.6M | $555.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $986K | $986K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $104.7M | $104.7M | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $8.5M | $8.5M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $2.4M | $141K | $2.1M | $200K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $104.1M | $92.6M | $9.5M | $2.0M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $7.7M | $6.1M | $1.5M | $137K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $20.5M | $17.2M | $2.9M | $448K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $12.6M | $10.7M | $1.6M | $330K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $785K | $746K | $24K | $15K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $220K | $209K | $7K | $4K |
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $43K | $43K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $11K | $11K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $57K | $57K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $14.3M | $13.7M | $403K | $259K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $1.7M | $1.5M | $205K | $6K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $605K | $529K | $73K | $2K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $1.2M | $1.1M | $149K | $5K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $6.4M | $5.6M | $758K | $22K |
| TravelLn 17 | $19.2M | $18.0M | $385K | $787K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $345K | $302K | $42K | $1K |
| InterestLn 20 | $15.3M | $14.9M | $442K | $17K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $10.9M | $10.0M | $874K | $54K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $1.7M | $695K | $1.0M | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $25.6M | $19.4M | $5.8M | $372K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $360.1M | $327.5M | $27.9M | $4.7M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $930.3M | $408.4M | $521.9M | $1.1B | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $331.9M | $392.7M | −$60.8M | $509.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 Viewing | $304.0M | $360.1M | −$56.1M | $555.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $396.7M | $324.0M | $72.7M | $607.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $426.3M | $289.7M | $136.5M | $549.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $371.2M | $294.0M | $77.2M | $387.0M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2023 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $303,954,067 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 27 of 27 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $303,954,067 across 11 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $360,079,745 across 24 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $1,005,181,148 assets, 20 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $555,155,877 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2023 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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