Nebraska · Nonprofit
Creighton University
Creighton University (Nebraska) receives grants from 358 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,208,452 to it, the largest being THE CHARLES AND MARY HEIDER FAMILY FOUNDATION ($35,682,280). 214 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $818M
- Funders on record
- 358
- Grants received
- $160M
- Net assets
- $1.7B
What Creighton University does
Mission
Creighton University is a Catholic and Jesuit comprehensive university committed to excellence in its selected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. As Catholic, Creighton is dedicated to the pursuit of truth in all its forms and is guided by the living tradition of the Catholic Church. As Jesuit, Creighton participates in the tradition of the Society of Jesus which provides an integrating vision of the world that arises out of the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. As comprehensive, Creighton's education embraces several colleges and professional schools and is directed to the intellectual, social, spiritual, physical and recreational aspects of students' lives and to the promotion of justice. Creighton exists for students and learning. Members of the Creighton community are challenged to reflect on transcendent values, including their relationship with God, in an atmosphere of freedom of inquiry, belief and religious worship.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Higher Education: Instruction - Creighton University, founded in 1878, is a private, Catholic, Jesuit educational institution with primary campuses in Omaha, NE and Phoenix, AZ with nearly 8,500 students of diverse faiths, races, and ethnic backgrounds from across the United States and 53 countries. The University provides its over 4,300 undergraduate and nearly 4,200 professional and graduate students a balanced educational experience, a rigorous academic agenda and a broad range of disciplines. Creighton's distinctive approach to education instills not just information but ideals, imbues not just technical skills but critical and creative thinking, and inspires not just competence but professional distinction and faith-based leadership and service. In addition to the College of Arts and Sciences, the University's oldest and largest school or college, Creighton University includes the Heider College of Business, the College of Nursing, the Graduate School, the Schools of Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Pharmacy and Health Professions, and College of Professional and Continuing Education.
$326,980,331 spentof which $151,004,811 as grants$475,686,001 earned by the program66% of program spendingStudent Life Programs (including Auxiliary Services) - Guided by Jesuit, Catholic values and in support of Creighton University's mission, the Division of Student Life fosters holistic student development in the Ignatian tradition through its programs and services, to produce students engaged in their communities with compassion, confidence, and character. Student Life programs include Student Counseling Services; Student Health Education and Compliance; Community Standards and Student Conduct; New Student Orientation and Transition Programs; Student Leadership and Involvement Center - includes oversight of Creighton Students Union (student government), Fraternity and Sorority Life, and nearly 400 registered student organizations; Recreation and Wellness - includes intramural/club sports and fitness programs; Housing & Residential Life (approximately 2,200 students live in one of the eight residence halls on campus); Dining Services; Student Centers; Conference & Event Services; Business Operations (including Financial Operations, Communications, and Technology); and Creighton University's Retreat Center in Griswold, IA. Student Life services are provided on both the Omaha, NE…
$111,515,655 spent$57,846,823 earned by the program23% of program spendingHigher Education: Health Care Services - Creighton University's health sciences schools currently provide healthcare education for nearly 3,800 dental, medical, physician assistant, nursing, pharmacy, and occupational and physical therapy students. Health sciences students are required to complete clinical training hours as part of their education. Clinical training is arranged through partnerships with healthcare providers and via university owned and operated clinical sites for dental, pharmacy, and occupational and physical therapy.
$29,641,632 spent$17,348,818 earned by the program6% of program spendingSponsored Research and Other Education and General
$24,620,968 spent$14,819,935 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $492,758,586.
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 $1.4B to $1.7B (+22%).
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 2% · 2018 2% · 2019 3% · 2020 3% · 2021 3% · 2022 4% · 2023 3% · 2024 6% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
16% of Creighton University’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Ms Diane K Duren
Director, Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 89 funders to 137 funders, grant income rose $6.7M → $21M.
46 of 358 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $68M from 2 payers (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Big East Conference Inc); $300k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest College World Series of Omaha Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money Creighton University raised.
From the IRS filings of Creighton University’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 358 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
Creighton University has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
31% 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 Creighton University.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 30% · 2018 15% · 2019 13% · 2020 15% · 2021 37% · 2022 43% · 2023 22% — diversifying over time.
“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
41% of Creighton University's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
51% of Creighton University's grant income comes from Nebraska funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 24 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
Creighton University runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 684 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding Creighton University receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $147.4M on record — $147.4M federal, $23k state.
- Department of Health and Human Services$89.1M
- Department of Education$37.3M
- Department of Defense$14.3M
- National Science Foundation$3.4M
- Department of Energy$2.1M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$499k
- OK$22k
- DE$500
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 Creighton 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 Nebraska
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Creighton University Student Groups LLC · disregarded
- Creighton-Univ Boys Town Healthcare Fdn · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Trusts (19) Creighton University · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Creighton 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 Creighton University?
- Creighton University (Nebraska) receives grants from 358 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,208,452 to it, the largest being THE CHARLES AND MARY HEIDER FAMILY FOUNDATION ($35,682,280). 214 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Creighton University have?
- IRS filings report 358 organizations giving $160,208,452 in grants to Creighton University, 214 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Creighton University?
- THE CHARLES AND MARY HEIDER FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $35,682,280 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Creighton University find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Nebraska. 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 358 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