Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in May 1945.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
92 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
71 people listed on the 990; $36.3M paid to officers and key staff.
Christopher Ryan Collins’s $3.9M as Head Men's Basketball Coach is at the 71st percentile of top reported officer pay among 21 $100M+ recreation & sports 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick William Fitzgerald II | — | $4,101,287 | $5,981,310 | $5,863,035 | — | — |
| Patrick W Fitzgerald II | — | — | — | — | $5,303,231 | $5,687,201 |
| Morton O Schapiro | $1,958,594 | $1,802,546 | $4,573,337 | $2,222,805 | $1,647,490 | $1,710,877 |
| Christopher Ryan Collins | $3,894,564 | $3,725,659 | $3,186,719 | $3,070,425 | — | — |
| Christopher R Collins | — | — | — | — | $2,826,700 | $3,201,770 |
| David Braun | $3,040,151 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Chad a Mirkin | $1,406,345 | $1,305,577 | — | $3,029,210 | — | $1,255,388 |
| Mohanbir S Sawhney | $2,262,619 | $2,278,357 | $2,365,991 | $2,430,051 | $1,538,960 | — |
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
Provides education and research, plus housing, food, and other services to support university students, faculty, and staff.
Questions for Northwestern University
Your first name shows with your question. Northwestern University answers here, for everyone.
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Education of Students
For the 2025 academic year, 8,961 undergraduates and 11,228 graduates and professional school students enrolled full-time at the university. The exempt purpose of northwestern university is to provide educational services to its students.
Research Activities
The research program at northwestern university is a major component of university efforts, assuring institutional leadership in scientific discovery, intellectual inquiry, and creative performance. The character of this research shapes all areas of university endeavor, especially graduate education as well as undergraduate studies.
Auxiliary enterprises serve the educational mission by primarily providing residences and food services, and other various goods and services to support university student, faculty, and staff activities.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $796.1M | $877.6M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $14.36B | $15.28B |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $3.30B | $3.75B |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $19.22B | $20.79B |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $3.59B | $4.55B |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $15.63B | $16.24B |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $134.2M | $134.2M | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $627.5M | $627.5M | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $18.6M | $18.6M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $23.9M | $9.2M | $13.7M | $1.0M |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $913K | $913K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.53B | $1.45B | $43.9M | $40.7M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $120.0M | $112.8M | $3.9M | $3.3M |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $222.4M | $209.0M | $7.3M | $6.1M |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $99.0M | $93.0M | $3.3M | $2.7M |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $41.3M | $41.3M | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $2.0M | $2.0M | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $969K | $969K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $117K | $117K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $41.3M | $41.3M | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $327.5M | $319.1M | $6.0M | $2.4M |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $15.7M | $8.9M | $1.9M | $4.9M |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $178.2M | $175.6M | $1.2M | $1.5M |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $56.7M | $53.1M | $2.8M | $778K |
| RoyaltiesLn 15 | $5.9M | $5.9M | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $116.9M | $108.9M | $7.6M | $472K |
| TravelLn 17 | $72.4M | $70.1M | $490K | $1.8M |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $49.6M | $48.6M | $452K | $582K |
| InterestLn 20 | $99.5M | $99.5M | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $216.7M | $204.4M | $10.9M | $1.4M |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $101.1M | $101.1M | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $161.2M | $161.2M | ||
| All other expensesLn 24e | $23.0M | $21.8M | $1.2M | $0 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $4.29B | $3.93B | $290.7M | $67.7M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $4.1B | $4.3B | −$231.9M | $16.2B | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $4.2B | $3.9B | $243.8M | $15.6B | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $3.3B | $3.7B | −$336.6M | $14.9B | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $4.0B | $3.3B | $666.2M | $15.4B | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $3.7B | $3.0B | $647.7M | $16.1B | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $3.1B | $3.0B | $127.3M | $12.5B | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $4,056,663,344 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 36 of 36 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $4,056,663,344 across 16 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $4,288,569,939 across 27 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $20,789,227,097 assets, 24 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $16,243,009,581 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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