Wake Forest University
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Wake Forest University, a 501(c)(3) institution of higher education, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts and in graduate and professional education. The organization is comprised of seven constituent parts: Wake Forest College; the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; the School of Law; the School of Medicine; the School of Business; the School of Divinity; and the School of Professional Studies. It seeks to honor the ideals of liberal learning, which entail commitment to transmission of cultural heritages; teaching the modes of learning in the basic disciplines of human knowledge; developing critical appreciation of moral, aesthetic and religious values; advancing the frontiers of knowledge through in-depth study and research; and applying knowledge in the service of humanity.
- Income
- $843.2 million
- Spending
- $786.3 million
- Spent on programs
- 85%
- Reserves
- 3.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 69%
- Employees
- 6,118
- Volunteers
- 2,200
- Highest pay
- $7.6 million, evp health aff.
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
Good: 81 out of 100. Higher than 73% of charities in its peer group (education, over $100m).
Reserves
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 3.1 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 28% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 7% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 10% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1585% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 17 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 2548 of 49 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
Reports results. Its tax return states measurable results. These are its own figures and nobody has checked them.
Results it reports
- Enrollment totaled 8,053 students, including 5,490 undergraduates and 2,563 graduate students.Work delivered
- 1,171 undergraduates studied in 61 cities in 35 countries.Work delivered
- 97.4% of law graduates in the Class of 2024 held full-time positions requiring bar passage or where a JD was advantageous.Change achieved
- Student-athletes posted a 96% NCAA-measured graduation rate across all sports.Change achieved
- 14 students partnered with seven community organizations to help meet public-health needs.Work delivered
- Approximately 47% of undergraduates participated in at least one fundraising event supporting cancer research.Work delivered
- Tutees benefited from the guidance and mentorship of 164 student tutors.Work delivered
- Nearly 140 students presented their research at Undergraduate Research Day across 25 disciplines.Work delivered
- 40 grants were announced to 42 institutions for character education.Work delivered
Read from the return by an AI model and shown only where the wording was found in the return. These are the charity's own figures.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $436.5 million spent. Founded in 1834, Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational collegiate university based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. One of the leading institutions of its kind, Wake Forest blends the intimacy of a liberal arts college with the academic vitality of a research university. At the heart of Wake Forest is the teacher-scholar ideal. Professors are committed to personalized teaching and to their students' individual development. Guided by the motto Pro Humanitate (For Humanity), Wake Forest is dedicated to an ethically informed education in a climate that values personal growth, community interaction, and individual honor. It is committed to being a community of students, faculty, staff and alumni from varied backgrounds, lived experiences and perspectives. It seeks to sustain an equitable, inclusive environment in which all can live, learn, belong and thrive. The University consists of Wake Forest College, the undergraduate arts and sciences division that honors the full institution's former name; the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; the School of Law; the School of Medicine; the School of Business, which provides undergraduate and graduate study; the School of Divinity; and the School of Professional Studies.In Fall 2024, Wake Forest's enrollment was comprised of 5,490 undergraduates and 2,563 graduate students for a total of 8,053. Undergraduates in Fall 2024 came from all 50 U.S. states; Washington, D.C.; other U.S. territories and possessions; and approximately 40 international countries. Women represented 54% of the undergraduate population and international students accounted for 8% of the total. Wake Forest offered 49 majors and 62 minors in Wake Forest College and in the School of Business in 2024-25. In the Fall 2024 semester, 99% of all undergraduate classes had fewer than 50 students. That is among the highest rates of any major university in the country. The average student-faculty ratio in Fall 2024 was 10 to 1. The class size is consistent with Wake Forest's educational model, which seeks to make students active participants in their learning. Its core tenets include the merger of classroom learning and real-world experience; the melding of multiple academic disciplines; and variety of instructional methods beyond the traditional lecture format. Wake Forest's footprint extends worldwide. More than 85% of graduates have participated in study-away programs in recent years. The Institute for International Education's Open Doors Report, which began with the 2002-03 academic year, has ranked Wake Forest among the nation's top 10 doctoral institutions in participation rate in every year the University has operated study-abroad programs. Wake Forest is one of a select group of universities to own and operate academic-residential houses overseas. They are Casa Artom, located on the Grand Canal in Venice; Flow House in Vienna; and Worrell House in London. Since the early 1970s, more than 3,600 graduates have lived and studied at one or more of the houses. Wake Forest operates nearly 50 of its own international study programs and offers students access to approximately 400 more through various affiliation agreements. In 2024-25, a record total of 1,171 undergraduates studied in 61 cities in 35 countries, traveling an estimated 10.8 million miles round-trip from Winston-Salem. Also, under the umbrella of Study Away opportunities is Wake Washington, a University-run program in which students combine classroom instruction with internships. They work four days a week for a variety of government and non-government organizations and agencies and take classes in space rented by the University and located in the heart of the city's Dupont Circle. Graduate Studies: More than 90 graduate degree programs are offered in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Schools of Business, Divinity, Law, Medicine and Professional Studies. General subject areas include Biomedical Science; Business; Computer and Information Systems; Counseling; Education; Humanities; Interdisciplinary Studies; Law; Liberal Arts Studies; Life and Physical Sciences; Mathematics and Statistics; Medicine; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Theology; and Visual and Performing Arts. Business: The School of Business offers a total of seven highly rated graduate programs in Accountancy, Business Administration, Management and Analytics. In the past 20 years in which national records were kept, Wake Forest led the nation in CPA exam passage rate and placed in the top five in 19 of those 20 years. The School of Business also co-sponsors dual degrees in Law and Medicine. The part-time Master of Business Administration program offers working professionals the opportunity to keep their jobs while enhancing their careers. Serving separate cohorts of students in Winston-Salem and Charlotte, the MBA program is consistently ranked among the nation's best part-time offerings in the field. Divinity: The Wake Forest School of Divinity is nationally recognized for its commitment to public service. The School aspires for its graduates to be agents of justice, reconciliation and compassion and architects of equity, hope and healing. In addition to its own Master of Divinity degree, the School contributes to dual degrees in Bioethics, Counseling, Education, Law and Sustainability.Law: The School of Law is among national leaders in value, employment rate, bar-passage rate and several practice areas. According to the American Bar Association, 97.4% of graduates in Wake Forest's Class of 2024 held full-time positions for which bar passage was required or for which a JD degree was advantageous. That rate is the third-highest in the country for that year. Wake Forest offers four law degrees (JD, MSL, LLM and SJD) and combines with other schools on dual degrees in Business Administration, Divinity, Bioethics and Sustainability. Arts and Sciences: The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences houses 23 Masters and Doctoral disciplinary or
- $108.6 million spent. Residence Halls & Dining:In the interest of building community, Wake Forest requires all undergraduates to live on campus for at least three years. Only 10 of the 189 research institutions with data in a November 2024 survey by collegetransitions.com required three or four years of on-campus residency. The University has done its part in this endeavor by acquiring, building or substantially renovating all residence halls in the past decade. The Division of Residence Life and Housing (RLH) maintains 27 facilities. They are equipped with high-speed internet service and include common areas suited to group study. The Division of Dining Services includes 17 locations. The main dining hall, affectionately known as The Pit, serves cafeteria-style food with several distinct areas, including vegan, gluten-free and other diet-specific options. Athletics:Wake Forest fields 18 intercollegiate athletics teams nine for men and nine for women in the NCAA's Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which it is a charter member. The University's undergraduate enrollment is the smallest of any school in the four most financially and athletically potent Division I conferences, but that size is a strength rather than a weakness. The distinction helps the University attract student-athletes who excel in competition and academics. Across all sports, Wake Forest posted a 96% NCAA-measured graduation report in a report released in November 2024. The institutional-level report measured graduation rates of 14 Wake Forest sport cohorts, considering teams in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country as one entity per gender. Of those 14 groups, seven posted perfect scores of 100%. Demon Deacon teams have won 11 NCAA team championships: three each in men's golf and field hockey; two in men's tennis, the most recent of which was earned in May 2025; and one each in baseball, women's golf and men's soccer. Wake Forest is one of only 30 Division I schools with titles in six unique sports. The median undergraduate enrollment of this group in Fall 2023 was 32,574 almost six times the Wake Forest figure.
- $73.9 million spent. Campus Life:Wake Forest is committed to putting the spirit of its motto, Pro Humanitate, in action. Student Organizations: Approximately 200 student organizations are active at Wake Forest, providing extracurricular learning and service opportunities for their members and ancillary benefit to the campus and local communities. They are centered around academic and professional development; business development; recreational-sports participation; fraternity and sorority life; cultural interests; media; fine-arts performance and exhibition; student governance; and other focal points. Community Outreach: In addition to student-run organizations, the Office of Civic and Community Engagement (OCCE) partners with approximately 120 projects and institutions across policy areas including aging; poverty; health; food access; various children's matters; education; and environmental sustainability. In the 2024-25 academic year, Wake Forest was one of only two North Carolina colleges to receive funds for an important initiative, Public Health AmeriCorps. Over the year, 14 students partnered with seven unique community organizations to help meet various public-health needs. In 2024-25, approximately 47% of undergraduates participated in at least one of the three major campus fundraising events supporting cancer research. In 2024-25, the OCCE celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Virtual Tutoring initiative. Born amid the restrictions related to COVID-19, the program has helped more than 700 students in nearly all Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. In 2024-25 alone, unique tutees benefited from the guidance and mentorship of 164 Wake Forest students. Nearly one of every 14 Wake Forest graduates in the Class of 2025 participated in at least one academic year of tutoring while undergraduates.Wellbeing: The University believes its obligation to students transcends classroom learning and extends to general health and wellbeing. In 2017, the University opened the renovated Reynolds Gym and the new Sutton Center, collectively known as the Wake Forest Wellbeing Center. The project immediately increased space dedicated to personal and group fitness; doubled the size of the Student Health center; and led to an increase in gym usage. A member of the Wake Forest community enters the facility every 68 seconds.In early 2023, Wake Forest announced the creation of We, a campus-wide initiative in support of mental health. The program works with the campus community to elevate consciousness of care; promote healthy practices and preventative care awareness; equip community members with knowledge and skills that can support their peers in need; and connect the community to the resources and information necessary to foster a culture of self-care. The endeavor created a dedicated phone number through which callers can refer themselves or others in need of assistance.A robust campus recreation department oversees 40 club sports and 37 intramural leagues and competitions. Nearly every late afternoon and early evening features contests in several distinct sports. In 2024-25, approximately one of every four undergraduates took a fitness class.
- $51.8 million spent. Research: Wake Forest is classified as a Research 2: High-Research Spending and Doctorate Production, the second-highest level, by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Wake Forest University has grants and internally funded research pursuant to basic science and technology. Wake Forest University manages research projects in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Health & Exercise Science, Divinity and Business. The Z. Smith Reynolds Library and the professional school libraries together house nearly 1 million physical books and nearly 1 million eBooks, as well as access to a multitude of other web-based resources. The campus libraries provide resources for both student and faculty researchers. Every fall, the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Center sponsors Undergraduate Research Day, in which students display and explain the results of their faculty-mentored research, which often takes place the previous summer. In 2024, nearly 140 students presented their work, achieved under the guidance of faculty in 25 unique academic disciplines. In the Class of 2025, approximately one of every 12 graduates had participated in at least one Undergraduate Research Day. Wake Forest is also a national leader in the study of leadership and character. The Program for Leadership and Character, an initiative that seeks to inspire, educate and empower leaders of character to serve humanity, has two missions. The first is to impact its own campus by creating programming and developing leaders in and out of the classroom. The second mission, known as the Educating Character Initiative (ECI), equips other institutions with the resources, funding and support necessary to integrate character education into their distinctive educational contexts, curricula and cultures. Wake Forest has redirected more than $35 million in grants from the Lilly Endowment Inc., of Indianapolis, Indiana, and other organizations to more than 140 other colleges and universities through this program. In FY25, Wake Forest announced 40 grants of up to $50,000 each to 42 institutions. By 2030, the ECI aspires to impact 600,000 college students nationwide.Research at Wake Forest is enhanced by the work of 11 discipline-specific institutes and centers. In 2024-25, these organizations included:The Humanities Institute, which establishes programs and funds for University faculty in the humanities and other fields of study engaging in humanistic inquiry and scholarship;The Center for Bioethics, Health and Society, which addresses ethical, social and policy issues vital to biotechnology, healthcare, biomedical research and public health;The Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability, which is dedicated to influencing the future of environmental protection, sustainability and climate change from the jungles of Peru to Wake Forest;The Center for Functional Materials, which is charged with connecting a broad range of materials-focused research groups and with supporting multidisciplinary research necessary for breakthrough developments; Interdisciplinary Arts Center, which draws artists, scholars, students, faculty and staff from across the academic divisions and disciplines in order to invigorate the intellectual and cultural life of the University;The Center for Molecular Signaling, which brings together investigators in the life, physical, computational and mathematical sciences to tackle basic questions about molecular communication among and within the cells of living organisms ranging from insects to plants to humans;The Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, which seeks to provide access to a broad range of nationally competitive capabilities in nanosciences;The Center for Research on Abroad and International Student Engagement (RAISE Center), which is dedicated to helping faculty, staff and students collaborate with scholars around the world to understand and enhance the experiences, engagement and development of abroad and international students; The Translational Science Center (TSC), which focuses on promoting and maintaining functional health in aging through research of cognitive function and physical activity;The Center for Literary Education, which promotes creative intellectual partnerships that facilitate interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching and bring literacy to life through community engagement; andThe Center for Research, Engagement and Collaboration in African American Life (RECAAL), which serves as an incubator of ideas promoting awareness about the complex experiences of Black people in the United States.Conference Services: Wake Forest offers other organizations the space and logistical assistance to run conventions and other events. The locations include academic classrooms and auditoriums on the main campus as well as three separate, affiliated venues: Graylyn Estate and Conference Center; Reynolda Gardens; and Reynolda House Museum of American Art. WFDD: The University owns the broadcast license for WFDD, an FM affiliate of National Public Radio. The station broadcast news, information, and public affairs programming covering the arts, people, and institutions in the area. It is the longest continuously broadcasting public radio station in North Carolina.In FY25, the University completed the implementation of its student information system, Workday Student. In August of 2024, the final phases of the student experience cycle application for graduation; transcripts; grading; and degree verification were brought online.
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 May 2001.
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.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.