University of Chicago is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Chicago, Illinois, registered in 1951, with $4,888,334,650 in FY2023 revenue. CharityIndex grades it A, and it directs about 84% of spending to programs.
Revenue (FY2023)
$4.9B
▲ 4.9% vs prior year
Education median: $200K
Expenses (FY2023)
$5.2B
Net assets
$8.5B
Employees
24,243
Measures how much of every dollar spent actually reaches programs, plus what it costs to raise $100 of donations. The worse of the two measures sets the letter (85%+ to programs is an A; under $15 to raise $100 is an A), averaged over the three most recent filings. For University of Chicago: 84% to programs · $3 to raise $100 earns a A on this criterion. See the exact thresholds →
Measures whether the organization is built to last: how many months its reserves would cover expenses (3+ months earns an A-range score, but hoarding 5+ years of budget is capped) and whether it runs a surplus or a deficit. For University of Chicago: 19 mo reserves · -7% margin earns a B+ on this criterion. See the exact thresholds →
Checks how the organization is run, from its own Form 990: an independent board majority, a board of five or more, conflict-of-interest, whistleblower and document-retention policies, and independently audited financials. The share of disclosed checks that pass sets the letter. For University of Chicago: 6 of 6 checks met earns a A+ on this criterion. See the exact thresholds →
Counts five disclosure signals: a recent filing, a mission statement, program descriptions, a listed website, and the full expense breakdown. More disclosure, better letter. For University of Chicago: 5 of 5 disclosure signals earns a A+ on this criterion. See the exact thresholds →
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Research: university of chicago faculty cross traditional disciplinary boundaries to transform understandings in business, economics, history, law, literature, religion, physics, chemistry and biology and medicine, among other fields. in pursuit of these research endeavors, during fiscal year 2022-2023 the university was awarded a total of $755 million in research funding from federal agencies, non-federal government entities, corporations, foundations, and other sources. this fiscal year $542 million was expended from federal government sponsors of research, with the u.s. department of health and human services and the national science foundation providing the largest amounts of funding. foundation research sponsorship awards totaled $66.4 million, followed by corporate research sponsorship of $60.6 million. the university also conducts scientific research in collaboration with argonne national laboratory, owned by the united states government and operated by the university through a disregarded entity, under the terms of a cost reimbursement contract with the u.s. department of energy. argonne is a multi-purpose science laboratory with a $1,290.8 million annual budget and approximately 4,539 employees. program service research expenditures were $877.0 million and are included in the research program service expense amount, as is required for a disregarded entity. in addition, fermi research alliance, llc, an entity jointly owned by the university and universities research association inc., operates fermi national accelerator laboratory ("fermilab") for the u.s. department of energy. fermilab is the nation's preeminent center for high-energy physics and an international center for scientific research in elementary particle physics and astrophysics. fermilab has a $607.8 million annual budget and approximately 2,079 employees.
Scholarships & fellowships: the university meets 100% of a student's demonstrated need with an extensive financial aid program which is designed to enable the most qualified students to attend the university regardless of their financial circumstances. for the 2022-2023 academic year, approximately 50% of all students in the college received financial aid in the form of grants and scholarships. university-wide expenditures for scholarships and fellowships amounted to $583.7 million. of this amount, approximately $429.1 million was provided from unrestricted funds; the remaining $154.6 million came from restricted sources. approximately 20% of students in the college (the university's undergraduate college) currently receive odyssey scholarships. the odyssey scholarships provide increased access by providing scholarship support for first generation students and students with family incomes typically below $125,000. the odyssey scholarship also provides funds for other educational opportunities like study abroad and providing a paid internship after the student's first year in the college. in october 2014, the university launched the no barriers program to eliminate the student loan requirement from all undergraduate, need-based financial aid packages. the loans were replaced by the university with direct grants. beginning with the class of 2024, the university's empower initiative will provide a grant/scholarship award guaranteed to cover full-tuition for families earning less than $125,000 and full-tuition, fees and room and board for families earning less than $60,000. in 2019, the university announced a new funding model for doctoral students. all students are guaranteed full tuition support, paid health insurance and an annual stipend of at least $31,000, beginning with students enrolling in 2020-2021.
The other program services that support the mission of instruction and research are: auxiliary enterprises library other student services information services operation and maintenance of plant
Revenue grew from $3.3B (FY2013) to $4.9B (FY2023) across 11 reported years.
Financial snapshot
Operating margin
-7.3%
Spent more than it raised in the latest fiscal year.
Total assets
$15.0B
Total liabilities
$6.5B
Net assets
$8.5B
Salaries & benefits
$2.9B
55% of expenses
Board members
51
44 independent
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Expenses | Net assets | Total assets | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $4,888,334,650▲4.9% | $5,247,378,934▲8.7% | $8,471,800,591▼0.3% | $14,950,131,084▲2.0% | 990 |
| 2022 | $4,659,559,211▲1.0% | $4,828,941,301▲9.1% | $8,495,134,134▼1.2% | $14,662,331,676▲1.8% | 990 |
| 2021 | $4,613,831,972▲9.6% | $4,424,487,118▲17.6% | $8,598,931,518▼12.3% | $14,408,247,538▼7.7% | 990 |
| 2020 | $4,208,313,004▲13.6% | $3,761,982,970▼8.3% | $9,801,956,963▲35.7% | $15,615,348,444▲20.7% | 990 |
| 2019 | $3,705,144,407▼17.5% | $4,101,909,518▲7.4% | $7,223,970,958▼5.7% | $12,940,284,083▲1.9% | 990 |
| 2018 | $4,490,577,850▲21.4% | $3,819,615,625▲7.8% | $7,663,847,797▲11.1% | $12,698,965,590▲8.8% | 990 |
| 2017 | $3,698,811,375▲2.8% | $3,542,724,827▲4.8% | $6,898,563,000▲3.5% | $11,669,737,422▲3.1% | 990 |
| 2016 | $3,598,136,536▲10.9% | $3,379,443,437▼1.2% | $6,664,569,000▲9.4% | $11,314,699,739▲4.6% | 990 |
| 2015 | $3,244,736,644▼2.7% | $3,422,030,480▲2.1% | $6,092,434,000▼7.4% | $10,820,592,775▼0.4% | 990 |
| 2014 | $3,333,076,637▲1.8% | $3,352,267,064▲7.2% | $6,581,617,000▼1.0% | $10,868,194,860▲4.6% | 990 |
| 2013 | $3,273,281,179 | $3,128,457,240▲7.5% | $6,648,495,000▲7.5% | $10,388,536,242▲7.1% | 990 |
| 2012 | — | $2,909,837,288▲26.4% | $6,183,175,000▲6.5% | $9,703,508,112▲0.9% | 990 |
| 2011 | — | $2,301,483,013▲12.1% | $5,804,573,000▼2.7% | $9,619,035,065▲2.3% | 990 |
| 2010 | — | $2,052,587,368▼1.7% | $5,965,714,000▲16.1% | $9,405,971,301▲10.3% | 990 |
| 2009 | — | $2,088,914,580 | $5,137,642,000 | $8,525,434,000 | 990 |
Original Form 990 PDFs (the Form column) are served by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, as filed with the IRS. Create a free account to download the CSV report.
Highest-paid: Robert J Zimmer — $4,718,866 (0.09% of total expenses)
| Name | Title | Hours/week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert J Zimmer | Former President | 0 | $4,718,866 |
| Mark Anderson | Exec Vp, Med. Affairs | 40 | $2,935,701 |
| Matthew Tirrell | Professor Emeritus | 40 | $2,025,370 |
| Andrew Ward | Vice President and Cio | 40 | $1,958,267 |
| Valluvan Jeevanandam | Professor | 40 | $1,869,409 |
| Paul Alivisatos | President | 40 | $1,850,855 |
| Luca Vricella | Professor of Surgery | 40 | $1,754,073 |
| Maia Hightower | Staff Scientist | 40 | $1,606,855 |
| Maryfrances Mccourt | Cfo (until 10/1/23) | 40 | $1,576,346 |
| Joanna Rupp | Asst Vp/mng Dir Pe | 40 | $1,452,548 |
| Pradeep Chintagunata | Professor | 40 | $1,379,127 |
| Madhav Rajan | Dean Booth School of Business | 40 | $1,108,947 |
| Kenneth S Polonsky | Professor | 40 | $1,040,724 |
| Katherine Baicker | Provost | 40 | $1,001,939 |
| Ka Yee Christina Lee | Interim Dean | 40 | $956,741 |
| James Nondorf | Vp Enroll. & Student Adv. | 40 | $925,629 |
| Kimberly Taylor | Vp & General Counsel | 40 | $905,631 |
| Juan Jose De Pablo | Vp For National Laboratories | 40 | $883,411 |
| Armin Afsahi | Vp Alumni Relations and Dev. | 40 | $704,963 |
| Laila Rashid | Associate Vice President | 40 | $670,861 |
| Contractor | Services | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Chartwells Dining Services | Food Services | $26,619,282 |
| Hsre-capstone Chicago LLC | Hygiene Services | $19,856,961 |
| Abm Industries Inc | Hygiene Services | $16,979,381 |
| Berglund Construction Co | Construction | $16,003,115 |
| Bulley Andrews LLC | Construction | $13,961,346 |
1,289 grants to University of Chicago totaling $961.0M, reported by foundations on their Schedule I filings — showing the 15 most recent.
| Grantmaker | Purpose | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund For Wealth Management Inc | Education | 2024 | $8,503,911 |
| Breakthrough T1d | T1d research | 2024 | $4,120,701 |
| Margot and Tom Pritzker Science Foundation | Biology center and ai fund | 2024 | $3,500,000 |
| Neubauer Family Charitable Trust | Education | 2024 | $3,223,417 |
| The V Foundation | Cancer research | 2024 | $3,200,000 |
| Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc | Unrestricted general support | 2024 | $3,120,820 |
| Silicon Valley Community Foundation | Education | 2024 | $2,922,436 |
| Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Inc | Scientific and medical research | 2024 | $2,868,865 |
| Breakthrough Energy Foundation | Cleantech exploration | 2024 | $2,500,000 |
| American Online Giving Foundation Inc | General support | 2024 | $1,773,455 |
| American Cancer Society Inc | Support/research | 2024 | $1,619,000 |
| Novo Nordisk Fonden | E&o | 2024 | $1,457,038 |
| The Clear Fund | Research support | 2024 | $895,999 |
| American Endowment Foundation | Educational | 2024 | $826,504 |
| Dechomai Foundation Inc | Unrestricted | 2024 | $741,273 |
204 grants totaling $95.1M in FY2023 — showing the 15 largest. All grants made by University of Chicago →
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Mdrc | Subaward | $8,121,346 |
| The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois | Subaward | $6,880,936 |
| Rush University Medical Center | Subaward | $5,482,860 |
| American College of Radiology Association | Subaward | $4,703,172 |
| University of Pittsburgh | Subaward | $4,628,088 |
| Northwestern University | Subaward | $4,252,430 |
| Health Research Incorporated Elizabeth Wood | Subaward | $3,321,773 |
| Givedirectly Inc | Subaward | $3,164,552 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Subaward | $2,208,901 |
| National Opinion Research Center | Subaward | $2,205,239 |
| J Craig Venter Institute Inc | Subaward | $2,076,948 |
| Yale University | Subaward | $1,814,146 |
| Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia | Subaward | $1,359,879 |
| New York University | Subaward | $1,282,942 |
| Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania | Subaward | $1,241,412 |
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Data for University of Chicago (EIN 36-2177139) comes from the IRS Business Master File and e-filed Form 990 returns, via CharityIndex. Figures reflect what the organization reported to the IRS for each fiscal year.