Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Apr 1935.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
93 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
40 people listed on the 990; $7.5M paid to officers and key staff.
Sylvia M Burwell’s $1.5M as Dist. Fellow & Former President is at the 87th 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvia M Burwell | $1,538,403 | $1,483,818 | $1,986,581 | $1,092,883 | $890,432 | $1,034,904 |
| Courtney Surls | $457,883 | $527,139 | $740,432 | $437,390 | $412,112 | $419,338 |
| Traevena L Byrd | $598,929 | $696,914 | — | — | — | — |
| Daniel J Myers | — | — | — | $142,639 | $694,538 | $547,106 |
| Vicky Wilkins | $626,797 | $444,571 | — | — | — | — |
| Douglas Kudravetz | — | — | $189,580 | $549,870 | $511,918 | $600,539 |
| Bronte Burleigh-Jones | $598,385 | $539,161 | $496,572 | $131,652 | — | — |
| Peter Starr | $227,837 | $470,204 | $589,579 | $427,518 | $347,213 | — |
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
Programs and updates
Provides higher education, student housing, dining, and recreational services to foster intellectual curiosity, community, and leadership for thousands of students in Washington, D.C.
Questions for American University
Your first name shows with your question. American University answers here, for everyone.
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Instruction
The university's mission is carried out by almost 936 full-time teaching and research faculty in six academic divisions offering 79 bachelor's programs, 98 master's programs, 24 doctoral programs, J.D., S.J.D., M.L.S. And L.L.M programs. Certificate programs and an associate degree program are offered as well.
Scholarships and Fellowships
American university awards financial aid to students based on a combination of demonstrated financial need, academic achievement, and the availability of funds. Once a student is admitted, the financial aid office will determine need and develop a financial aid award that includes funds from the programs for which the student qualifies.
Auxiliary Enterprises
University dormitories, consisting of ten residence halls, provide living quarters for almost 4,622 students. Also provided are recreational facilities, dining services, parking, and other self-supporting faculty, staff, and student services.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $140.1M | $81.7M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $954.4M | $990.3M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $851.8M | $891.5M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $2.05B | $2.06B |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $761.0M | $749.0M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $1.29B | $1.31B |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $2.4M | $2.4M | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $170.2M | $170.2M | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $1.4M | $1.4M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $9.9M | $9.1M | $584K | $195K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $290.6M | $268.1M | $16.9M | $5.7M |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $19.9M | $18.4M | $1.2M | $387K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $21.7M | $14.2M | $5.6M | $1.9M |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $19.6M | $18.1M | $1.1M | $382K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $214K | $214K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $1.3M | $1.3M | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $118 | $60 | $58 | |
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $1.2M | $1.2M | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $108.1M | $103.7M | $2.2M | $2.2M |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $3.5M | $3.4M | $45K | $73K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $14.2M | $12.6M | $1.1M | $480K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $6.5M | $4.3M | $2.2M | $6K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $29.4M | $19.0M | $10.4M | $21K |
| TravelLn 17 | $8.2M | $7.8M | $64K | $329K |
| InterestLn 20 | $23.0M | $23.0M | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $41.4M | $41.4M | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $12.1M | $12.1M | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $9.1M | $7.5M | $1.2M | $308K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $794.1M | $736.7M | $45.4M | $12.0M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $929.6M | $943.0M | −$13.4M | $1.7B | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $937.1M | $918.4M | $18.6M | $1.6B | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $933.9M | $912.5M | $21.4M | $1.5B | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $997.8M | $864.2M | $133.6M | $1.5B | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $778.0M | $729.1M | $48.9M | $1.5B | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $862.4M | $794.1M | $68.2M | $1.3B | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $862,369,744 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 23 of 23 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $862,369,744 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $794,127,433 across 22 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $2,059,436,434 assets, 24 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,310,451,722 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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