Philadelphia University
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE ORGANIZATION IS AN AFFILIATE WITHIN THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY/JEFFERSON HEALTH; A COMPREHENSIVE PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY AND TAX-EXEMPT INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE DELIVERY SYSTEM ("SYSTEM"), WITH A TRIPARTITE MISSION OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND PATIENT CARE. WE ARE A UNIVERSITY WITH PREEMINENCE IN TRANSDISCIPLINARY, EXPERIENTIAL PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY, DELIVERING EXCEPTIONAL VALUE FOR 21ST CENTURY STUDENTS WITH EXCELLENCE IN ARCHITECTURE, BUSINESS, DESIGN, ENGINEERING, FASHION & TEXTILES, HEALTH, SCIENCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE - INFUSED WITH THE LIBERAL ARTS.
- Income
- $178.5 million
- Spending
- $185.7 million
- Spent on programs
- 89%
- Reserves
- -7.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 95%
- Employees
- 1,245
- Volunteers
- 17
- Highest pay
- $666,182, svp, operations east falls
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Weak: 43 out of 100. Higher than 9% of charities in its peer group (education, over $100m).
Reserves
0 of 35Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.
Debt
5 of 20It owes 67% of what it owns.
Living within its means
8 of 15Spending exceeded income by 4% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 3% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1589% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 9 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 41% of charities in its peer group (education, over $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2516 of 18 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $166.0 million spent. EXPENSES INCURRED IN PROVIDING AN EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION AND PROVIDING MORE THAN 20 LABORATORIES AND STUDIOS FOR HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIOR DESIGN, ENGINEERING, TEXTILE DESIGN, FASHION DESIGN, GRAPHIC DESIGN, INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDIES AND OTHER ALLIED HEALTH FIELDS, AS WELL AS FACULTY ACCESS TO THE MOST SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO THE ORGANIZATIONS STATEMENT OF PROGRAM SERVICE ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDED IN SCHEDULE O.
- The taxpayer is recognized by the internal revenue service ("irs") as a tax-exempt organization under internal revenue code section 501(c)(3) and is also an affiliate of thomas jefferson university ("tju"). Tju is also recognized as a tax-exempt organization under internal revenue code section 501(c)(3) and is the tax-exempt parent organization of tju/jefferson health; a comprehensive professional university and tax-exempt integrated healthcare delivery system ("system"), with a tripartite mission of education, research and patient care. The system's tripartite mission of education, research and patient care. Jefferson health, in partnership with tju, is dedicated to discovering new treatments and therapies that will define the future of clinical care; providing exceptional primary through complex quaternary care to patients in the communities we serve throughout the delaware valley; and educating tomorrow's professionals through transdisciplinary and experiential learning designed for new and emerging fields for the 21st century. Jefferson has over 325 years of health care, innovation and education. Jefferson health, which added lehigh valley health network in august 2024, now Includes 32 hospitals with 5,500 licensed beds throughout eastern Pennsylvania And southern new jersey. They are: jefferson abington hospital, jefferson bucks hospital, jefferson cherry hill hospital, jefferson einstein philadelphia hospital, jefferson einstein montgomery hospital, jefferson frankford hospital, jefferson hospital for neuroscience, jefferson lansdale hospital, jefferson methodist hospital, jefferson moss-magee rehabilitation hospital - center city, jefferson moss-magee Rehabilitation - elkins park, jefferson stratford hospital, jefferson torresdale hospital, jefferson washington township hospital, lehigh valley hospital - carbon, lehigh valley hospital - cedar crest, lehigh valley hospital - 1503 n. Cedar crest, lehigh valley hospital - dickson city, lehigh valley hospital - gilbertsville, lehigh valley hospital - hazleton, lehigh valley hospital - hecktown oaks, lehigh valley Hospital - highland avenue, lehigh valley hospital - macungie, lehigh valley hospital-muhlenberg, lehigh valley hospital - pocono, lehigh valley hospital - schuylkill e. Norwegian st., lehigh valley hospital - schuylkill s. Jackson st., lehigh valley hospital - 17th street, lehigh valley hospital - tilghman, physicians care surgical hospital, rothman orthopedic specialty hospital, and thomas jefferson university hospital. Combined, jefferson health, thomas jefferson university and lehigh valley network have more than 65,000 employees, which includes over 10,200 employed physicians/advanced practice professionals, 13,700 full and part-time nurses and more than 1,800 full and part-time paid faculty. Jefferson is the second largest employer in philadelphia and the largest health system in philadelphia based on total licensed beds. Jefferson health includes over 700 outpatient and urgent care centers throughout eastern pennsylvania and southern new jersey; 4 mangnet-designated hospitals, a nci-designated comprehensive cancer center - sidney kimmel cancer center; and one of the largest faculty-based telehealth networks in the country that began more than 10 years ago. Jefferson health includes 32 hospitals throughout southeastern pennsylvania, lehigh valley and new jersey. Additional relevant tju and jefferson health information for the year ended june 30, 2025: - Licensed beds: 3,816 - Inpatient admissions: 160,254 - Observation cases: 48,777 - Total surgeries: 100,839 - Emergency dept. Visits: 584,121 - Ambulatory visits: 1,767,947 - Telehealth visits: 238,261 The system's hospitals' conformance with irs revenue ruling 69-545 The wholly owned hospitals in the system are recognized by the irs as internal revenue code section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations. Pursuant to its charitable purposes, each of these hospitals provide medically necessary healthcare services to all individuals in a non-discriminatory manner regardless of race, color, creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or ability to pay. Moreover, our hospitals operate consistently with the following criteria outlined in irs revenue ruling 69-545: 1. Providing medically necessary healthcare services to all individuals regardless of ability to pay, including charity care, self-pay, medicare, and medicaid patients. 2. Operating active emergency departments for all persons that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. 3. Maintaining open medical staffs, with privileges available to all qualified physicians. 4. Control positioned with hospital board of trustees and the board of trustees of tju, and all the boards are comprised of independent civic leaders and other prominent members of the represented communities; and 5. Using surplus funds to improve the quality of patient care, expand and renovate facilities/equipment and advance and improve medical care, programs and activities through patient care and medical training, education, and research. The operations of our wholly owned hospitals as shown through the factors outlined above and other information contained herein, clearly demonstrate the provision of substantial community benefit; both collectively and individually; and that the use and control of the respective hospital facilities are for the benefit of the public and that no part of the income or net earnings of any of the hospital organizations inures to the benefit of any private individual, nor is any private interest being served other than incidentally. PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY ======================= PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY IS A STUDENT - CENTERED INSTITUTION THAT PREPARES GRADUATES FOR SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN AN EVOLVING GLOBAL MARKETPLACE: - BY BLENDING THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES, PROFESSIONAL STUDIES, INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING AND COLLABORATIONS IN AND OUT OF THE CLASSROOM, STUDENTS LEARN TO THRIVE IN DIVE
- 2008 ---- IN 2008, PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY ADOPTED A BOLD, INNOVATIVE STRATEGIC PLAN AND DIRECTED OUR EFFORTS ON ADVANCING OUR MISSION AND VISION: TO BE THE MODEL FOR PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY EDUCATION. THE UNIVERSITY REORGANIZED ITS OFFERINGS INTO THREE COLLEGES AND THREE SCHOOLS. 2012 ---- IN 2012, THE UNIVERSITY LAUNCHED ITS PHILAU ONLINE OFFERING, WHICH FORMALIZED AND EXPANDED ITS REACH IN ONLINE EDUCATION. PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY + THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: TWO LEGACIES JOINED BY ONE VISION ===================================================================== UNIFYING TWO RENOWNED LEGACIES OF INNOVATION, EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE, JEFFERSON (PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY + THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY) HAS MORE THAN THREE COMBINED CENTURIES OF HISTORY. DRIVEN BY THIS NEWLY UNITED AND ROBUST PAST, JEFFERSON DELIVERS UNIQUE AND HIGH-IMPACT PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION TO OUR STUDENTS IN THE AREAS OF ARCHITECTURE, BUSINESS, DESIGN, ENGINEERING, FASHION, HEALTH, MEDICINE, SCIENCE, TEXTILES AND MORE. THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED IN 1824 AS JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE, AND PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED IN 1884 AS THE PHILADELPHIA TEXTILE SCHOOL. BOTH WERE AHEAD OF THEIR TIME AND FOCUSED ON THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING. THE NEW JEFFERSON WAS ESTABLISHED ON JULY 1, 2017 AS A RESULT OF THE MERGER OF THESE TWO RENOWNED UNIVERSITIES. JOINED IN 2017 THROUGH A SHARED AND UNIQUE APPROACH TO EDUCATION, JEFFERSON (PHILADELPHIA UNIVERSITY + THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY) IS NATIONALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR MANY HISTORICAL "FIRSTS" INCLUDING THE FIRST SURGICAL USE OF ANESTHESIA IN PHILADELPHIA; THE BLENDING OF QUAIL FEATHERS AND WOOL TO CREATE THE ARMY'S UBIQUITOUS OLIVE DRAB AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO DARK BLUE AND LIGHT-COLORED KHAKI MILITARY UNIFORMS; THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL OPEN-HEART OPERATION USING A HEART-LUNG MACHINE; AND THE FIRST BIFURCATED AORTAL GRAFT DESIGNED BY USING MULTI-BRANCHED SEAMLESS TUBES THAT KNIT FIBERS NEEDED FOR ARTIFICIAL BLOOD VESSELS. TODAY, WE ARE A PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY THAT DEFIES CONVENTION AND DEDICATES ITSELF TO COLLABORATIVE, TRANSDISCIPLINARY AND INTERPROFESSIONAL APPROACHES TO LEARNING THAT OFFER A VIBRANT AND EXPANDABLE PLATFORM FOR EDUCATION. THROUGH THIS UNIQUE MODEL, WE ARE PREPARING OUR STUDENTS FOR CURRENT AND YET-TO-BE-IMAGINED CAREERS - SETTING TOMORROW'S STANDARDS BY BREAKING TODAY'S. TOGETHER, THESE UNIVERSITIES INCLUDE 10 COLLEGES AND 4 SCHOOLS INCLUDING ARCHITECTURE, BUSINESS, DESIGN, ENGINEERING, FASHION AND TEXTILES, HEALTH SCIENCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE PROGRAMS. OVER 160 UNDERGRADUATE/GRADUATE PROGRAMS ARE OFFERED. JEFFERSON HEALTH, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TJU, IS DEDICATED TO DISCOVERING NEW TREATMENTS AND THERAPIES THAT WILL DEFINE THE FUTURE OF CLINICAL CARE; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONAL PRIMARY THROUGH COMPLEX QUATERNARY CARE TO PATIENTS IN THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE THROUGHOUT THE DELAWARE VALLEY; AND EDUCATING TOMORROW'S PROFESSIONALS THROUGH TRANSDISCIPLINARY AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING DESIGNED FOR NEW AND EMERGING FIELDS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since August 1952.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
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