Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Nov 1934.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
62 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
39 people listed on the 990; $1.9M paid to officers and key staff.
Angenia Clark’s $358K as President is at the 75th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3683 $10–100M 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vann R Newkirk SR PHD | — | — | $480,467 | $340,395 | $192,007 | — |
| Angenia Clark | $357,500 | $83,022 | — | — | — | — |
| Kevin D Rome SR | — | — | — | — | — | $352,088 |
| Kevin Darnell Rome | — | — | — | $183,750 | $339,405 | — |
| Jens Frederiksen | — | $208,595 | $196,053 | $220,000 | $195,215 | $171,148 |
| Wendy Thompson | $215,000 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Arnold Burger | $181,967 | $181,967 | $201,909 | $179,484 | $167,583 | $137,596 |
| Sufyan Baksh | $197,130 | $168,080 | — | — | — | — |
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.
See Fisk University executive salaries →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
Educates diverse students with integrity and intellect for societal contributions.
Questions for Fisk University
Your first name shows with your question. Fisk University answers here, for everyone.
The organization is an institution of higher education andprovides instruction scholarships and various supportservices in achieving its primary purpose of educatingstudents.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
Federal money
Plus 23 smaller programs.
The auditor reported 14 findings: a weakness in money controls.
Plus 20 smaller programs.
The auditor reported 10 findings: a weakness in money controls.
Plus 15 smaller programs.
The auditor reported no findings.
Plus 13 smaller programs.
The auditor reported 2 findings: a weakness in money controls.
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | FY21 | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of yearLn 1g | $33.7M | $26.1M | $25.5M | $23.3M | $20.9M |
| Given inLn 1b | $4.6M | $745K | $2.1M | $1.4M | $823K |
| SpentLn 1d–1f | $1.1M | $1.0M | $1.3M | $643K | $460K |
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $4.4M | $9.1M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $108.6M | $114.6M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $23.1M | $25.2M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $159.2M | $175.1M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $18.4M | $19.2M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $140.8M | $155.9M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $11.2M | $11.2M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $2.1M | $1.6M | $462K | $99K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $9.6M | $7.0M | $2.1M | $443K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $3.1M | $2.3M | $674K | $144K |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $2.6M | $1.6M | $928K | $49K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $1.3M | $101K | $958K | $281K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $4.1M | $16K | $4.1M | |
| TravelLn 17 | $62K | $49K | $9K | $3K |
| InterestLn 20 | $1.3M | $960 | $1.3M | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $1.7M | $1.7M | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $352K | $2K | $350K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $5.1M | $2.7M | $2.2M | $144K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $42.5M | $26.6M | $14.8M | $1.2M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Aug 18, 2026 | $64.1M | $66.5M | −$2.4M | $163.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS May 13, 2025 | $61.4M | $59.4M | $2.0M | $169.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Jan 17, 2025 | $56.2M | $55.2M | $931K | $165.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS May 15, 2023 | $58.5M | $48.5M | $10.1M | $163.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 ViewingFiled with the IRS Nov 12, 2021 | $54.5M | $42.5M | $12.0M | $155.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS Mar 29, 2021 | $50.6M | $40.8M | $9.9M | $140.8M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $54,477,071 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 18 of 23 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $54,477,071 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $42,507,733 across 12 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $175,139,464 assets, 19 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $155,911,087 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
Similar organizations you could support · Compare with another nonprofit
Names, privacy, and removal requests More
The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.
Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.
We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.
Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.
If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.
Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.
If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.