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Associated Colleges of Illinois Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Associated Colleges of Illinois Inc

Associated Colleges of Illinois has supported numerous independent colleges and universities with a liberal arts tradition in Illinois for more than 70 years benefitting thousands of underrepresented students through scholarships, emergency financial aid, mentoring, and other forms of college to career support.

$512k
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$26k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$5.2M
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$24,762
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Knox College$25,762
Olivet Nazarene University$25,512
Rockford University$25,062
Eureka College$25,062
North Central College$24,862
Augustana College$24,812
Millikin University$24,812
Monmouth College$24,812
Quincy University$24,812
North Park University$24,812
Illinois Wesleyan Univeristy$24,762
McKendree College$24,762
St Xavier University$24,762
University of St Francis$24,762
Judson University$24,762
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 65% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Wheaton College: $29k → 7%Eureka College: $26k → 7%University of St Francis: $29k → 7%Judson University: $29k → 8%Illinois College: $27k → 12%Greenville University: $29k → 12%Quincy University: $32k → 13%Olivet Nazarene University: $28k → 14%St Augustine College: $25k → 14%Millikin University: $28k → 15%Knox College: $29k → 15%Rockford University: $28k → 15%McKendree College: $29k → 16%Wheaton College: $25k → 7%Eureka College: $25k → 7%University of St Francis: $28k → 7%Judson University: $25k → 8%Illinois College: $27k → 12%Greenville University: $28k → 12%Quincy University: $26k → 13%Olivet Nazarene University: $27k → 14%Millikin University: $25k → 15%Knox College: $28k → 15%Rockford University: $25k → 15%McKendree College: $28k → 16%Wheaton College: $25k → 7%Eureka College: $25k → 7%University of St Francis: $25k → 7%North Park University: $32k → 14%Knox College: $26k → 15%Knox College: $25k → 15%North Central College: $58k → 7%North Central College: $29k → 7%North Central College: $25k → 7%Lewis University: $29k → 7%Aurora University: $25k → 8%Lewis University: $28k → 7%Benedictine University: $29k → 7%Benedictine University: $28k → 7%Olivet Nazarene University: $26k → 14%Dominican University: $36k → 14%Concordia University: $30k → 14%Dominican University: $29k → 14%Dominican University: $25k → 14%Elmhurst College: $29k → 7%Elmhurst College: $28k → 7%Trinity Christian College: $29k → 14%Trinity Christian College: $28k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.1M · 27 repeat orgs$0 to everyone else

27 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
0

Total granted

$5.1M
$0

Still filing today

96%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • NC
    North Central College
    9× · 2017–2025 · $246k · revenue +22%
  • KC
    KNOX COLLEGE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $223k · revenue +12%
  • LU
    Lewis University
    9× · 2017–2025 · $221k · revenue +36%

Funded once

    How this is measured

    Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

    04Its field

    Closest unfunded matches

    The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

    1
    Augustana University Association

    Inspired by lutheran scholarly tradition and the liberal arts, augustana provides an education of enduring worth that challenges the intellect, fosters integrity and integrates faith with learning and service in a diverse world.

    Education
    2
    Xavier University

    Xavier is a jesuit catholic university rooted in the liberal arts tradition. our mission is to educate each student intellectually, morally, and spiritually. we create learning opportunities through rigorous academic and professional…

    Education
    3
    Simpson College

    Through innovative learning opportunities, individual student attention, and an unwavering commitment to inclusive educational access, simpson college cultivates a diverse community of learners to lead lives of meaning and purpose.

    Education
    4
    Loyola University

    Loyola University New Orleans, a Jesuit and Catholic institution of higher education, welcomes students of diverse backgrounds and prepares them to lead meaningful lives with and for others; to pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue; and to work…

    Education
    5
    Union College

    Union college is a seventh-day adventist community of higher education, inspired by jesus christ, and dedicated to empowering students to learn, serve, and lead.

    Education
    6
    Hilbert College

    Hilbert college is an independent institution of higher learning that embraces its catholic franciscan heritage and values. students from diverse backgrounds are educated in liberal arts and professional programs to become informed…

    Education
    7
    Trinity University

    Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

    Education
    8
    Excelsior University

    Excelsior University provides educational opportunity to adult learners with an emphasis on those historically underrepresented in higher education. The University meets students where they are - academically and geographically, offering…

    Education
    9
    Columbia College Chicago

    The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

    Education
    10
    Wilson College

    Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

    Education
    11
    University of the Ozarks

    True to our christian heritage, we prepare students from diverse religious, cultural, educational and economic backgrounds to live life fully.

    Education
    12
    University of New Haven

    The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

    Education
    How this is measured
    The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Illinois Wesleyan University; the most unlike its peers is The Principia Corporation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
    04the grantee network

    27 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

    Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

    How this is measured

    Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 27 of the 28 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

    Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

    0
    Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
    0
    Early backer (in before they grew)
    27/27
    Grantees still filing
    17/27
    Grew since first funded

    Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

    North Central College: $246,289 · EducationNorth Central CollegeKNOX COLLEGE: $222,605 · EducationLewis University: $221,355 · EducationMcKendree University: $221,355 · EducationTRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ASSOCIATION: $221,152 · EducationOLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $220,104 · EducationQUINCY UNIVERSITY CORPORATION: $218,738 · EducationILLINOIS COLLEGE: $209,957 · EducationROCKFORD UNIVERSITY: $209,804 · EducationMILLIKIN UNIVERSITY: $208,439 · EducationJUDSON UNIVERSITY A BAPTIST INSTITUTION: $206,512 · EducationMONMOUTH COLLEGE: $205,312 · EducationAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $204,362 · EducationDOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: $202,820 · EducationNORTH PARK UNIVERSITY: $201,486 · EducationThe Principia Corporation: $177,412 · EducationBenedictine University: $174,005 · EducationWheaton College: $170,750 · EducationSAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY: $164,762 · EducationBLACKBURN UNIVERSITY: $162,382 · EducationILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $152,262 · Education+3 more: $327,228 · Education+3 moreUNIVERSITY OF ST FRANCIS: $221,454 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF …ELMHURST UNIVERSITY: $221,355 · OtherELMHURST UNIVE…Eureka College: $198,917 · OtherEureka CollegeST AUGUSTINE COLLEGE: $35,500 · Other
    Education$4,549,091Other$677,226

    Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

    25%50%75%100%$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNorth Central College: $246,289 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetKNOX COLLEGE: $222,605 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ST FRANCIS: $221,454 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLewis University: $221,355 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMcKendree University: $221,355 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetELMHURST UNIVERSITY: $221,355 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ASSOCIATION: $221,152 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetOLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY: $220,104 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetQUINCY UNIVERSITY CORPORATION: $218,738 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetILLINOIS COLLEGE: $209,957 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetROCKFORD UNIVERSITY: $209,804 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetMILLIKIN UNIVERSITY: $208,439 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetJUDSON UNIVERSITY A BAPTIST INSTITUTION: $206,512 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetMONMOUTH COLLEGE: $205,312 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $204,362 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetDOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: $202,820 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH PARK UNIVERSITY: $201,486 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetThe Principia Corporation: $177,412 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBenedictine University: $174,005 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWheaton College: $170,750 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY: $164,762 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBLACKBURN UNIVERSITY: $162,382 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $152,262 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORDIA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO: $140,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAURORA UNIVERSITY: $105,135 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGreenville College: $81,593 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetST AUGUSTINE COLLEGE: $35,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budget
    Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

    A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

    • Who funds North Central College ↗
    • Who funds KNOX COLLEGE ↗
    • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF ST FRANCIS ↗
    • Who funds Lewis University ↗
    • Who funds McKendree University ↗
    • Who funds ELMHURST UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds TRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE ASSOCIATION ↗
    • Who funds OLIVET NAZARENE UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds QUINCY UNIVERSITY CORPORATION ↗
    • Who funds ILLINOIS COLLEGE ↗
    • Who funds ROCKFORD UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds MILLIKIN UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds JUDSON UNIVERSITY A BAPTIST INSTITUTION ↗
    • Who funds MONMOUTH COLLEGE ↗
    • Who funds AUGUSTANA COLLEGE ↗
    • Who funds DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds The Principia Corporation ↗
    • Who funds Benedictine University ↗
    • Who funds Wheaton College ↗
    • Who funds SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds BLACKBURN UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO ↗
    • Who funds AURORA UNIVERSITY ↗
    • Who funds Greenville College ↗
    • Who funds ST AUGUSTINE COLLEGE ↗

    Co-funders

    Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

    Council of Independen…Marquette Bank Educat…Ibm International Fou…Culver's Foundation I…Ge Aerospace Foundati…R D Cundiff Scholarsh…Brent Taylor Perpetua…AbbVie FoundationEnterprise Holdings F…Nick Carter Scholarsh…Pittsfield High Schoo…Lord Educational Fund
    Council of Independent CollegesDC22× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

    Open a dossier: Council of Independent Colleges · Marquette Bank Education Foundation · Ibm International Foundation · Culver's Foundation Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · R D Cundiff Scholarship Trust Dtd 10121 · Brent Taylor Perpetual Char Trust Mercantile Bank Trustee · AbbVie Foundation · Enterprise Holdings Foundation · Nick Carter Scholarship Fund · Pittsfield High School Class of 1954 Scholarship Fund Inc · Lord Educational Fund

    How this is measured
    Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

    How much its grantees rely on government

    Each dot is one organization Associated Colleges of Illinois Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Associated Colleges of Illinois Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

    2025
    ’20’21’22’23’24’25
    no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
      no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
      0get no government money at all
      9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
      0rely on government for over half their income
      ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
      typical government reliance, FY20–25
      How this is measured
      Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

      On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 28 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

      How this is measured
      Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

      Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

      Source object · view filing

      Play a game based on Associated Colleges of Illinois’ filings →

      More from the funding graph

      The unnamed billions
      grants reported with no recipient in the public record
      The regranting layer
      51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
      The DAF merry-go-round
      $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
      The endowment market
      who holds foundation money, and what just moved
      The camps
      funders cluster by geography, not ideology
      By state
      where grant money is based, and what stays home