Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 629 organizations whose IRS filings report $150,510,428 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($16,693,472). 350 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $930M
- Funders on record
- 629
- Grants received
- $151M
- Net assets
- $1.7B
What American University does
Mission
To advance knowledge, foster intellectual curiosity, build community, and empower lives of purpose, service, and leadership.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Instruction: the university's mission is carried out by almost 911 full-time teaching and research faculty in six academic divisions offering 82 bachelor's programs, 92 master's programs, 24 doctoral programs, j.d., s.j.d, m.l.s. And l.l.m. Programs. Student-faculty ratio = 10:1. Average class size = 21 students.
$231,422,399 spent$634,761,085 earned by the program27% of program spendingScholarships 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. To receive consideration for financial aid, a student must be a united states citizen or eligible non-citizen in a degree program.
$196,215,050 spentof which $196,215,050 as grants23% of program spendingAuxiliary enterprises: university dormitories, consisting of eleven residence halls, provide living quarters for almost 4,048 students. Also provided are recreational facilities, dining services, parking, and other self-supporting faculty, staff, and student services.
$103,587,563 spent$93,340,154 earned by the program12% of program spendingAcademic support - the university libraries, academic computer services, administrative offices and support for the six academic divisions.student services - health and counseling, career center, university registrar, financial aid and enrollment services, sports and recreation.institutional support - information technology, telecommunications, space management, security, mail and transportation services.research- research and technical assistance projects funded by federal and private agencies.public service - the operation of wamu 88.5 fm, a 24-hour, 50,000 watt public radio station licensed to the university since 1961.American University strategic plan the university's seven-year plan builds on our legacy of leadership, scholarship, and service and focuses on the challenges facing our community and higher education, as it boldly embraces opportunities for greater impact. Our plan is organized into three strategic themes -scholarship, learning, and community - with key imperatives to guide our focused efforts. Change can't wait campaignAmerican University undertook the change can't wait campaign through a public launch in 2021. The campaign had a bold call to redefine what is…
$319,649,935 spentof which $8,001,831 as grants$60,252,218 earned by the program38% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $850,874,947.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $2.1B to $2.4B (+18%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 2% · 2022 4% · 2023 1% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
6% of AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 122 funders to 231 funders, grant income rose $11M → $23M.
79 of 629 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 629 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% of grant income, and it takes 13 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 13 funders to its left
52% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AMERICAN UNIVERSITY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 12% · 2018 28% · 2019 9% · 2020 13% · 2021 13% · 2022 11% · 2023 18% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
40% of AMERICAN UNIVERSITY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY draws 76% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 38 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $39M arriving through sponsors registered in 28 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY's funding base is broadening — from 122 funders to 231 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding AMERICAN UNIVERSITY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $195.8M on record — $195.4M federal, $379k state.
- National Science Foundation$41.9M
- Department of Education$36.5M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$27.3M
- Department of Health and Human Services$22.3M
- Department of Justice$17.8M
- Department of Defense$14.8M
- NJ$328k
- VT$31k
- OR$17k
- OK$3k
- FL$25
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
52%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 15 states
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- American University at Connecticut Ave LLC · disregarded
- Washington Research Library Consortium · exempt
- The Airlie Foundation · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN UNIVERSITY?
- AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 629 organizations whose IRS filings report $150,510,428 to it, the largest being CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ($16,693,472). 350 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN UNIVERSITY have?
- IRS filings report 629 organizations giving $150,510,428 in grants to AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, 350 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN UNIVERSITY?
- CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING is the largest funder on record, with $16,693,472 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN UNIVERSITY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 629 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing