Education charities, by the numbers.
39,049 of them filed a full Form 990 and spent $518.4B between them.
- 39,049
- charities filing a full Form 990, 16,269 spending $1M+
- $518.4B
- spent in their latest year, with $172.8B coming in as gifts and grants
- 16%
- of all that spending by the 10 biggest
What “education” covers.
The biggest slice is colleges and universities, at 56% of all spending in the cause. Spending outside these groups is in charities the IRS coded more generally.
Spending in each charity's latest e-filed Form 990 (Part I, line 18), grouped by the NTEE code in the IRS master file.
The biggest 393 education charities.
| # | Charity | Spending | Program share | Cost to raise $1 | Savings | CEO pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York University New York, NY · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $11.8B | 87% | 4¢ | 10 mo | $24.94M |
| 2 | Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $11.0B | 90% | 7¢ | 32 mo | $4.21M |
| 3 | The Board of Trustees of the Leland Redwood City, CA · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $9.7B | 89% | 5¢ | 69 mo | $5.41M |
| 4 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $9.4B | 90% | 4¢ | 26 mo | $4.80M |
| 5 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $7.6B | 83% | 9¢ | 22 mo | $2.90M |
| 6 | President and Fellows of Harvard College Cambridge, MA · Graduate and professional schools · FY 2025 | $7.2B | 86% | 13¢ | 110 mo | – |
| 7 | The Trustees of Columbia University New York, NY · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $7.2B | 90% | 7¢ | 34 mo | $3.18M |
| 8 | Emory University Atlanta, GA · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $7.2B | 94% | 3¢ | 30 mo | $2.34M |
| 9 | Yale University New Haven, CT · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $6.7B | 87% | 6¢ | 87 mo | $3.92M |
| 10 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $6.6B | 93% | 2¢ | 10 mo | $5.90M |
| 11 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $6.3B | 96% | 9¢ | 10 mo | $1.64M |
| 12 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $5.6B | 82% | 8¢ | 24 mo | $4.08M |
| 13 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $5.6B | 84% | 3¢ | 20 mo | $2.03M |
| 14 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $5.5B | 81% | 6¢ | 82 mo | $3.85M |
| 15 | Washington University St Louis, MO · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $5.5B | 92% | 5¢ | 39 mo | – |
| 16 | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, NY · Graduate and professional schools · FY 2024 | $4.4B | 89% | 2¢ | 4 mo | $5.44M |
| 17 | Duke University Durham, NC · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $4.4B | 90% | 5¢ | 48 mo | $2.14M |
| 18 | University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA · Educational services · FY 2025 | $3.5B | 90% | 5¢ | 27 mo | $1.11M |
| 19 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $3.4B | 96% | 1¢ | 19 mo | $1.62M |
| 20 | The Trustees of Princeton University Princeton, NJ · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $3.2B | 88% | 4¢ | 143 mo | $3.76M |
| 21 | Northeastern University Boston, MA · Student services · FY 2025 | $3.1B | 91% | 12¢ | 17 mo | $2.22M |
| 22 | Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX · Graduate and professional schools · FY 2025 | $3.0B | 92% | 2¢ | 7 mo | $4.03M |
| 23 | The University of British Columbia Canada, CA · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $2.7B | 93% | 2¢ | 12 mo | – |
| 24 | Gothic Durham, NC · Other · FY 2025 | $2.4B | 100% | 0¢ | 44 mo | $4.89M |
| 25 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Colleges and universities · FY 2025 | $2.4B | 79% | 11¢ | 56 mo | – |
Program share = program expenses ÷ total expenses (Part IX, line 25). Cost to raise $1 = fundraising expenses ÷ contributions (Part IX, Part VIII line 1h). Savings = net assets ÷ annual spending × 12, which includes buildings, endowments and restricted gifts, so zoos and aquariums run high. CEO pay is reportable compensation from the charity (Part VII). “CPA view” moves joint fundraising costs reported on line 26 out of programs. Names link to our file where we have one, otherwise to the filing on ProPublica.
Benchmarks for education.
Medians across 16,269 charities spending $1M or more. Use them to judge any charity in this cause.
- 84%
- median program share, as reported
- 1¢
- median cost to raise $1, among charities taking in $100K+ in gifts
- 9 mo
- median net assets, in months of spending
| Annual spending | Charities | Median CEO pay | Median program share |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1–5M | 8,877 | $132K | 84% |
| $5–25M | 5,101 | $196K | 84% |
| $25–100M | 1,616 | $301K | 85% |
| $100M+ | 675 | $576K | 87% |
The yes-or-no answers.
Counts of education charities answering “yes” (or failing a basic check) in their latest Form 990. The charities answer these themselves.
charities told the IRS they discovered a significant diversion of assets (theft, embezzlement or misuse).
charities reported a paid fundraiser that kept half or more of what it raised.
charities reported an excess benefit transaction with an insider.
charities had $2M+ in revenue and no audited financial statements.
charities had $1M+ in revenue and no conflict-of-interest policy.
charities reported loans to or from officers or directors.
A “yes” is a reason to read the filing, not a verdict. Learn what each answer means in how to check a charity, and see how we read a 990.
Every education charity we cover.
Questions about education charities.
What is the largest education charity?
By spending, New York University (NY), at $11.8B in its fiscal year ending 2025, per its Form 990.
How much do education charity CEOs make?
The median CEO of a education charity spending $1–5M a year was paid $132K. At charities spending $100M or more, the median was $576K. Figures are reportable compensation from the charity, Form 990 Part VII.
What percentage of donations to education charities goes to programs?
The median education charity spending $1M or more reported 84% of its spending on programs, on Form 990 Part IX. That is the charity's own split. Some charities count part of their fundraising mail as program work; our pages show the number both ways.
How many education charities are there?
39,049 education organizations filed a full Form 990 in the IRS's 2025 and 2026 e-file releases, 16,269 of them spending $1 million or more. Thousands more file the short 990-EZ or the 990-N postcard.
Where this comes from.
Each charity's latest Form 990 in the IRS's 2025 and 2026 e-file releases, joined to the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File for its NTEE cause code. Organizations that file as charities but aren't funded like one (research contractors, sports bodies and similar) are left out of the comparison table. Charities that file a 990-EZ or 990-N aren't included. Figures are as filed; we haven't reviewed each one, except where a charity has our full file.
Charity Math, “Education charities, by the numbers,” data as of 2026-11-07. https://charitymath.com/causes/education/