Is Cornell University a Good Charity?
Cornell University has a NonprofitTruth Efficiency Score of 64/100 (C), based on operating reserves, multi-year revenue consistency, and officer compensation relative to revenue. Current-officer compensation: $17,388,119.
This page answers a common question about U.S. nonprofit financial efficiency: Is Cornell University a Good Charity?. The answer below pulls directly from IRS Form 990 filings — the public-disclosure document every U.S. tax-exempt organization must file annually — and the NonprofitTruth efficiency rubric that combines financial-reserve, revenue-consistency, and officer-compensation factors into a single grade. Why this matters: every U.S. taxpayer subsidizes the nonprofit sector indirectly — donations are tax-deductible, nonprofit income is exempt, and many nonprofit employees benefit from sector-specific tax provisions. The public-disclosure regime exists specifically to give donors and policy-makers the data they need to judge whether the subsidy is well-spent on a given organization.
The detailed answer below uses the actual Form 990 numbers, explains how to read them, and translates the technical accounting into the donor-relevant version of the question.
Cornell University is a education nonprofit based in Ithaca, New York with IRS EIN 150532082. According to its Form 990 filing for tax year 2023, the organization reported $5.9B in total revenue, $5.8B in total expenses, and $17.3B in net assets.
A program-vs-overhead split is not shown for Cornell University because total program service expenses (Form 990 Part IX, line 25, column B) are not carried in the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer feed this site ingests. Rather than estimate the figure, we omit it; the breakdown can be read directly from the organization's e-filed Form 990 or on Candid (GuideStar).
Compensation for current officers and key employees at Cornell University totaled $17,388,119 in 2023, representing approximately 29.6 basis points (0.30%) of total revenue. The NonprofitTruth Efficiency Score of 64/100 weights financial health / operating reserves (40%), multi-year revenue consistency (35%), and officer compensation relative to revenue (25%), producing a grade of C.
Key Data
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Efficiency Score | 64/100 (C) |
| Total Revenue | $5.9B |
| Total Expenses | $5.8B |
| Current-Officer Compensation | $17,388,119 |
| Category | Education |
Other Education Nonprofits
Frequently Asked Questions
Cornell University has a NonprofitTruth Efficiency Score of 64/100 (C), based on operating reserves, multi-year revenue consistency, and officer compensation relative to revenue. Current-officer compensation: $17,388,119.
Cornell University reported $17,388,119 in total compensation for current officers and key employees for tax year 2023 (IRS Form 990 Part IX, line 5) — about 0.30% of the organization's $5.9B in revenue. This is an aggregate across all listed officers, not one person's salary.
Cornell University reported $5.9B in total revenue for tax year 2023, with $17.3B in net assets.
Officer compensation at Cornell University works out to about 0.30% of total revenue (29.6 basis points). At roughly 0.30% of revenue, officer pay here is modest relative to the organization's scale. On our rubric, the officer-compensation factor scored 100/100.
The NonprofitTruth Efficiency Score weights three factors from IRS Form 990 data: financial health / operating reserves (40%), multi-year revenue consistency (35%), and officer compensation relative to revenue (25%). It does not estimate a program-spending ratio. Cornell University scored 64/100 (grade C).
More about Cornell University
Cornell University has a NonprofitTruth Efficiency Score of 64/100 (C), based on operating reserves, multi-year revenue consistency, and officer compensation relative to revenue. Current-officer compensation: $17,388,119.