PROPUBLICA Fearless Reporting for an Informed Society — Join Us.
DONATE
Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate

Western Governors University

  • Salt Lake Cty, UT
  • Tax-exempt since March 2016
  • EIN: 47-4365018

Organization summary

Type of Nonprofit

Designated as a Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn't provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Category: Educational Institutions and Related Activities / Professional Societies, Associations (NTEE)

Donations to this organization are tax deductible.

Details

According to its June 2023 tax filing, this nonprofit:

Operated a school
Organization is a school. Details are reported on Schedule E.
Reported conflict of interest transactions
Organizations must report loans, grants or business transactions with interested parties, which may include key employees and officers, their family members and any businesses in which they hold a controlling interest. These transactions must be reported on Schedule L.

Summary charts: organization finances over time

Revenue
$654M (2023)

Expenses
$619M (2023)

Total Assets
$394M (2023)

Total Liabilities
$348M (2023)

Source: Form 990 tax filings from 2015 to 2023

Tax Filings and Audits by Year

Form 990 is an information return that most organizations claiming federal tax-exempt status must file yearly with the IRS. Nonprofit Explorer has IRS digitized Form 990 data for filings processed in 2012 and later. If this organization filed an amended return, it may not be reflected below. Duplicate download links may indicate a resubmission or amendment to this organization's original return. Form 990 data is from the IRS.

Audits are required to be submitted by nonprofit organizations that spend $750,000 or more in federal grant money in a fiscal year. "Single audits" look at the entire organization's finances and compliance, while other audits are program specific. Nonprofit Explorer has PDFs of audits for some nonprofits for fiscal year 2015 and later. Audit data is from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Fiscal Year Ending June
2024

No Extracted Financial Data

Form 990 documents are not available for this tax period, but audit documents are available for download.

Document Links

Audit

Audit for an entity that spends $750,000+ in federal grant money in a fiscal year

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending June
2023

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$654,374,330
Expenses
$619,062,159
Net Income
$35,312,171
Net Assets
$45,642,394
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $5,003,519
0.8%
Program Services $649,253,938
99.2%
Investment Income $46,231
0.0%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $70,642
0.0%
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $4,579,954
0.7%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $253,872,490
41.0%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $393,807,673
Total Liabilities $348,165,279
Net Assets $45,642,394
Other
Operated a school
Reported conflict of interest transactions
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Scott Pulsipher (Director, President) $1,917,916 $0 $58,120
Marni Baker Stein (Chief Academic Off(thru 12/22)) $806,413 $0 $42,499
David Grow (Coo (As Of 01/23)) $687,122 $0 $66,400
Nadeem Syed (Cfo & Treasurer) $595,279 $0 $48,469
Bonnie Pattee (Sr Vp, People (Thru 12/22)) $465,505 $0 $51,964
Annalisa Holcombe (President, Wgu Advancement) $367,028 $0 $53,460
Robert Hunt (Sr Vp, Gen Council/Secretary) $347,753 $0 $55,800
Jason Thompson (Vp, Diversity & Inclusion) $300,511 $0 $41,331
Paul Droubay (Vp, Total Rewards) $292,920 $0 $52,291
Jeremy Robinson (Vp, People Development) $285,543 $0 $44,989
Sara Reed (Vp, People & Talent) $270,579 $0 $20,500
John Bluford (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
April Chou (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
Cole Clark (Director) $0 $0 $0
Joe Fuller (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
Jim Geringer (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
Kerry Healy (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
Gov Eric Holcomb (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
Tammy Johns (Director) $0 $0 $0
Lenny Mendonca (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
Talia Milgrom Elcott (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
Gov Jared Polis (Director (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
David Simmons (Director (Chair Thru 12/22)) $0 $0 $0
Sam Smith (Director) $0 $0 $0
Charles Sorenson (Chair (As Of 01/23)) $0 $0 $0
See filing for compensation of 1 other people →
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 7, 2024

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML
Audit

Audit for an entity that spends $750,000+ in federal grant money in a fiscal year

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending June
2022

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$79,386,691
Expenses
$70,012,401
Net Income
$9,374,290
Net Assets
$10,343,719
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $35,342,870
44.5%
Program Services $43,850,267
55.2%
Investment Income $193,554
0.2%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $1,866,161
2.7%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $25,324,817
36.2%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $30,227,281
Total Liabilities $19,883,562
Net Assets $10,343,719
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Matthew Sanders (Svp, University Development) $424,518 $0 $41,919
Maia Sharpley (Svp, Managing Partner (Juvo)) $340,428 $0 $6,429
Andre Bennin (Svp, Managing Partner (Juvo)) $289,866 $0 $20,361
Bonnie Pattee (Svp,People/Talent(from 8/5/21)) $189,536 $242,664 $50,039
Nadeem Syed (Cfo, Treasurer (From 8/5/21)) $167,075 $121,951 $37,396
Robert Hunt (Svp, General Council/Secretary) $137,390 $163,033 $54,715
Paul Droubay (Vp Of Total Rewards (8/5/21)) $128,648 $166,114 $47,488
Scott Tanner (Vp Of Finance (From 8/5/21)) $108,981 $128,262 $56,716
Curt Defriez (Vp Of Accounting (From 8/5/21)) $100,877 $128,422 $56,465
Scott Pulsipher (Director, President) $0 $1,804,900 $55,038
David Grow (Dir., Treasurer (Until 8/5/21)) $0 $624,167 $50,565
Wesley Smith (Svp, Policy & Public Affairs) $0 $355,017 $46,618
David Simmons (Director / Chair) $0 $0 $0
Sam Smith (Director) $0 $0 $0
Cole Clark (Director) $0 $0 $0
Tammy Johns (Director) $0 $0 $0
Jessie Woolley Wilson (Director) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 11, 2023

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending June
2021

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$11,961,161
Expenses
$28,338,732
Net Income
-$16,377,571
Net Assets
$969,429
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $10,673,216
89.2%
Program Services $1,308,692
10.9%
Investment Income -$20,747
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $1,101,413
3.9%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $2,401,841
8.5%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $2,449,192
Total Liabilities $1,479,763
Net Assets $969,429
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Matthew Sanders (Senior Vice President) $402,007 $0 $40,039
Andre Bennin (Managing Partner) $367,143 $0 $31,779
Charlie Nguyen (University Development Direct) $205,996 $0 $34,360
Andre Bueno (University Development Direct) $201,697 $0 $5,731
Rebecca Marquette (University Development Direct) $194,741 $0 $10,931
Sean Brown (Sr Associate, General Counsel) $166,930 $7,806 $28,449
Michael Morris (Senior Mgr / Head Of Strategy) $135,789 $0 $26,737
Scott Pulsipher (Director, President) $0 $1,539,991 $44,811
David Grow (Director, Treasurer) $0 $1,489,404 $44,973
Robert Hunt (Secretary) $0 $271,040 $43,769
David E Simmons (Director / Chair) $0 $0 $0
Dr Samuel H Smith (Director) $0 $0 $0
Cole Clark (Director) $0 $0 $0
Tammy Johns (Director) $0 $0 $0
Jessie Woolley Wilson (Director) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 13, 2022

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending June
2020

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$10,328,970
Expenses
$4,168,618
Net Income
$6,160,352
Net Assets
$17,347,000
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $10,000,000
96.8%
Program Services $284,446
2.8%
Investment Income $44,524
0.4%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $355,616
8.5%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $1,902,158
45.6%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $18,294,694
Total Liabilities $947,694
Net Assets $17,347,000
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Matthew Sanders (Senior Vice President) $352,595 $0 $31,577
Rebecca Marquette (University Development Direct) $155,306 $0 $13,708
Andre Bueno (University Development Direct) $125,491 $0 $0
Jacob Hancock (Business Ops & Production Mgr) $112,770 $0 $23,776
Michael Morris (Senior Mgr / Head Of Strategy) $111,168 $0 $20,194
Scott Pulsipher (Director, President) $0 $964,616 $45,750
David R Grow (Director) $0 $564,640 $52,551
Curt Defriez (Treasurer) $0 $216,025 $44,790
Robert Hunt (Secretary) $0 $204,429 $51,567
Sean Brown (Legal Counsel) $0 $57,941 $0
David E Simmons (Director / Chair) $0 $0 $0
Dr Samuel H Smith (Director) $0 $0 $0
Cole Clark (Director) $0 $0 $0
Tammy Johns (Director) $0 $0 $0
Jessie Woolley Wilson (Director) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 14, 2021

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending June
2019

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$10,011,771
Expenses
$1,828,233
Net Income
$8,183,538
Net Assets
$11,186,648
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $10,000,000
99.9%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $11,771
0.1%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $388,670
21.3%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $597,621
32.7%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $11,457,692
Total Liabilities $271,044
Net Assets $11,186,648
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Matthew Sanders (Senior Vice President) $194,717 $154,565 $19,539
Scott Pulsipher (Director, President) $0 $1,092,372 $45,050
David R Grow (Executive Director) $0 $447,520 $54,464
David E Simmons (Director) $0 $0 $0
Curt L Defriez (Treasurer) $0 $206,596 $41,081
Robert Hunt (Secretary) $0 $205,167 $52,118
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 13, 2020

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending June
2018

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$867
Expenses
$312
Net Income
$555
Net Assets
$3,002,116
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $0
Program Services $0
Investment Income $867
100%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $0
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $3,003,111
Total Liabilities $995
Net Assets $3,002,116
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Scott Pulsifer (Director/President) $0 $0 $0
David R Grow (Director/Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
David E Simmons (Director) $0 $0 $0
Robert Hunt (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 15, 2019

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2017

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$2,152
Expenses
$995
Net Income
$1,157
Net Assets
$3,001,561
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $0
Program Services $0
Investment Income $2,152
100%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $0
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $3,002,556
Total Liabilities $995
Net Assets $3,001,561
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Scott Pulsifer (Director) $0 $0 $0
David R Grow (Executive Director) $0 $0 $0
David E Simmons (Director) $0 $0 $0
Curt L Defriez (Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
Robert Hunt (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on Nov. 12, 2018

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2016

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$2,250
Expenses
$995
Net Income
$1,255
Net Assets
$3,000,404
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $0
Program Services $0
Investment Income $2,250
100%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $0
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $3,047,279
Total Liabilities $46,875
Net Assets $3,000,404
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Scott Pulsifer (Director) $0 $0 $0
David R Grow (Executive Director) $0 $0 $0
David E Simmons (Director) $0 $0 $0
Curt L Defriez (Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
Robert Hunt (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on Nov. 6, 2017

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2015

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$3,000,029
Expenses
$880
Net Income
$2,999,149
Net Assets
$2,999,149
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $3,000,000
100.0%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $29
0.0%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $0
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $3,000,029
Total Liabilities $880
Net Assets $2,999,149
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Robert W Mendenhall (Director) $0 $0 $0
David R Grow (Executive Di) $0 $0 $0
David E Simmons (Director) $0 $0 $0
Curt L Defriez (Treasurer) $0 $0 $0
Robert Hunt (Secretary) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on Nov. 14, 2016

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

About This Data

Nonprofit Explorer includes summary data for nonprofit tax returns and full Form 990 documents, in both PDF and digital formats.

The summary data contains information processed by the IRS during the 2012-2019 calendar years; this generally consists of filings for the 2011-2018 fiscal years, but may include older records. This data release includes only a subset of what can be found in the full Form 990s.

In addition to the raw summary data, we link to PDFs and digital copies of full Form 990 documents wherever possible. This consists of separate releases by the IRS of Form 990 documents processed by the agency, which we update regularly.

We also link to copies of audits nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year since 2016. These audits are copied from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Which Organizations Are Here?

Every organization that has been recognized as tax exempt by the IRS has to file Form 990 every year, unless they make less than $200,000 in revenue and have less than $500,000 in assets, in which case they have to file form 990-EZ. Organizations making less than $50,000 don’t have to file either form but do have to let the IRS they’re still in business via a Form 990N "e-Postcard."

Nonprofit Explorer has organizations claiming tax exemption in each of the 27 subsections of the 501(c) section of the tax code, and which have filed a Form 990, Form 990EZ or Form 990PF. Taxable trusts and private foundations that are required to file a form 990PF are also included. Small organizations filing a Form 990N "e-Postcard" are not included in this data.

Types of Nonprofits

There are 27 nonprofit designations based on the numbered subsections of section 501(c) of the tax code. See the list »

Get the Data

For those interested in acquiring the original data from the source, here’s where our data comes from:

  • Raw filing data. Includes EINs and summary financials as structured data.
  • Exempt Organization profiles. Includes organization names, addresses, etc. You can merge this with the raw filing data using EIN numbers.
  • Form 990 documents. Prior to 2017, these documents were obtained and processed by Public.Resource.org and ProPublica. Bulk PDF downloads since 2017 are available from the IRS.
  • Form 990 documents as XML files. Includes complete filing data (financial details, names of officers, tax schedules, etc.) in machine-readable format. Only available for electronically filed documents. Electronic data released prior to October 2021 is also available through Amazon Web Services.
  • Audits. PDFs of single or program-specific audits for nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year. Available for fiscal year 2015 and later.

API

The data powering this website is available programmatically, via an API. Read the API documentation »

Byline

By Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford and Ash Ngu, ProPublica, and Brandon Roberts, Special to ProPublica.
Design by Jeff Frankl. Additional development by Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, and Sisi Wei.

E-file viewer adapted from IRS e-File Viewer by Ben Getson. Code for scraping audit documents adapated from Govwiki.

Updated