Concordia University - Seward, NE

The information on this page was last updated 3/20/2023. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]


Summary

Founded in 1894 by The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Concordia University, Nebraska is a private, coeducational institution of higher learning. Our campus is located in Seward, which has a population of 7,200 and is located 25 minutes west of Lincoln.


Contact information

Mailing address:
Concordia University
800 N. Columbia Ave.
Seward, NE 68434

Website: cune.edu

Phone: 800-535-5494

Email: [email protected]


Organization details

EIN: 470378777

CEO/President: Dr. Bernard Bull

Chairman: Stuart Bartruff

Board size: 18

Founder:

Ruling year: 1941

Tax deductible: Yes

Fiscal year end: 06/30

Member of ECFA: No

Member of ECFA since:


Purpose

To keep up with our growing university, we update our vision statement every five years. The current vision theme is EXCEL 2025. Concordia University will EXCEL by delivering a distinctive Lutheran education that increasingly engages and influences the world.

We use our Lutheran tradition to help students strengthen their own Christian identity and gain the practical experience they need to successfully learn, serve and lead in the church and world.


Mission statement

Our mission hasn't changed since the first class was held in 1894 with professor George Weller and the 13 students who lived and learned in Founders Hall. Concordia University, Nebraska is an excellent academic and Christ-centered community equipping men and women for lives of learning, service and leadership in the church and world.


Statement of faith

Donor confidence score

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Transparency grade

C

To understand our transparency grade, click here.


Financial efficiency ratings

Sector: Colleges/Universities

CategoryRatingOverall rankSector rank
Overall efficiency rating560 of 110179 of 129
Fund acquisition rating686 of 110291 of 129
Resource allocation rating362 of 110241 of 129
Asset utilization rating626 of 110186 of 129

Financial ratios

Funding ratiosSector median20222021202020192018
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts =
Fundraising expense /
Total contributions
9%11%8%9%19%7%
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio =
Fundraising expense /
Total revenue
2%2%2%2%3%2%
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance =
Total contributions /
Total revenue
22%21%22%24%14%29%
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio =
Fundraising expense /
Total expenses
2%3%2%2%3%3%
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance =
Total other revenue /
Total revenue
78%79%78%76%86%71%
 
Operating ratiosSector median20222021202020192018
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio =
Program services /
Total expenses
84%87%89%90%86%86%
Spending ratio Spending ratio =
Total expenses /
Total revenue
95%87%85%85%95%80%
Program output ratio Program output ratio =
Program services /
Total revenue
77%75%76%77%82%69%
Savings ratio Savings ratio =
Surplus (deficit) /
Total revenue
5%13%15%15%5%20%
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate =
Surplus (deficit) /
Net assets
5%8%9%10%3%16%
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio =
Management and general expense /
Total expenses
13%11%9%7%11%11%
 
Investing ratiosSector median20222021202020192018
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover =
Total expenses /
Total assets
0.510.420.440.400.450.48
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment =
Total assets /
Total current assets
2.612.682.662.612.802.25
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover =
Total expenses /
Total current assets
1.401.121.171.031.261.08
 
Liquidity ratiosSector median20222021202020192018
Current ratio Current ratio =
Total current assets /
Total current liabilities
8.6312.6611.405.944.9613.60
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio =
Total current liabilities /
Total current assets
0.120.080.090.170.200.07
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level =
(Total current assets -
Total current liabilities) /
(Total expenses / 12)
7.379.909.349.677.5810.32
 
Solvency ratiosSector median20222021202020192018
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio =
Total liabilities /
Total assets
24%17%17%28%25%24%
Debt ratio Debt ratio =
Debt /
Total assets
11%11%12%19%14%16%
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio =
Net assets /
Total expenses
151%200%188%181%166%158%

Financials

Balance sheet
 
Assets20222021202020192018
Cash$1,396,791$5,086,597$4,175,294$1,090,204$7,091,496
Receivables, inventories, prepaids$13,278,095$16,352,805$23,404,968$12,576,882$16,960,023
Short-term investments$44,098,161$38,712,737$31,590,439$34,467,499$33,092,658
Other current assets$0$0$0$0$0
Total current assets$58,773,047$60,152,139$59,170,701$48,134,585$57,144,177
Long-term investments$346,885$8,167,144$4,663,377$3,529,015$3,541,007
Fixed assets$92,451,248$84,938,659$84,346,634$76,550,384$61,110,373
Other long-term assets$5,729,453$6,507,777$6,109,606$6,779,336$6,626,509
Total long-term assets$98,527,586$99,613,580$95,119,617$86,858,735$71,277,889
Total assets$157,300,633$159,765,719$154,290,318$134,993,320$128,422,066
 
Liabilities20222021202020192018
Payables and accrued expenses$2,907,542$2,475,230$2,748,242$7,595,148$2,566,239
Other current liabilities$1,733,263$2,801,831$7,211,496$2,106,972$1,636,139
Total current liabilities$4,640,805$5,277,061$9,959,738$9,702,120$4,202,378
Debt$17,378,052$19,040,116$29,673,391$18,753,886$20,401,395
Due to (from) affiliates$0$0$0$0$0
Other long-term liabilities$3,996,552$2,679,613$4,194,590$5,339,335$6,738,943
Total long-term liabilities$21,374,604$21,719,729$33,867,981$24,093,221$27,140,338
Total liabilities$26,015,409$26,996,790$43,827,719$33,795,341$31,342,716
 
Net assets20222021202020192018
Without donor restrictions$62,981,901$63,918,855$53,926,618$32,988,782$32,958,257
With donor restrictions$68,303,323$68,850,074$56,535,981$68,209,197$64,121,093
Net assets$131,285,224$132,768,929$110,462,599$101,197,979$97,079,350
 
Revenues and expenses
 
Revenue20222021202020192018
Total contributions$16,232,525$17,987,610$17,420,676$8,855,135$22,265,477
Program service revenue$54,883,894$63,942,266$54,096,080$54,424,109$54,207,719
Membership dues$0$0$0$0$0
Investment income$4,404,702$715,731$397,873$502,107$799,869
Other revenue$7,005$26,637($37,711)$18,965$17,706
Total other revenue$59,295,601$64,684,634$54,456,242$54,945,181$55,025,294
Total revenue$75,528,126$82,672,244$71,876,918$63,800,316$77,290,771
 
Expenses20222021202020192018
Program services$56,771,423$62,451,889$55,234,558$52,454,358$53,195,437
Management and general$7,042,799$6,501,368$4,326,985$6,727,123$6,752,736
Fundraising$1,805,267$1,514,230$1,495,747$1,695,849$1,634,669
Total expenses$65,619,489$70,467,487$61,057,290$60,877,330$61,582,842
 
Change in net assets20222021202020192018
Surplus (deficit)$9,908,637$12,204,757$10,819,628$2,922,986$15,707,929
Other changes in net assets$0$0$0$0$0
Total change in net assets$9,908,637$12,204,757$10,819,628$2,922,986$15,707,929

Compensation

NameTitleCompensation
Tim PreussProvost$320,000
David KummEx Vp, Cfo, COO$241,013
Bernard BullPresident$237,655
Kurth BrashearInst Adv/General Councel$198,220
Gary McDanielsVP For Enrollment, Student Services$170,834
D Gene BrooksVP Student Affairs & Athletics$152,001
Russell SommerfeldInterim President$132,156

Compensation data as of: 6/30/2022


Response from ministry

No response has been provided by this ministry.


The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 3/20/2023. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]


History

Concordia University, Nebraska has been equipping students for service in God's church and world since the doors opened on Nov. 18, 1894 with one professor, 13 male students and a three-year high school curriculum. More than 125 years later, Concordia has grown into a fully accredited, coeducational university offering more than 100 programs and has granted degrees to tens of thousands of students.

We officially became Concordia University, Nebraska in 1998. In the 104 years prior, we were known by a multitude of different official and non-official names.

From 1974-1998, we were Concordia College.

From 1924-1974, we were Concordia Teachers College, initials that can still be found around campus, and the Concordia Teachers College name is inscribed in the front of Weller Hall.

The cornerstone on Founders Hall bears the initials E.L.S.L.S., short for Evangelische Lutherische Schullehrer Seminar, apparently the first name given to Concordia in 1894 by our German-speaking founders. Translated into English, the name was Evangelical Lutheran School Teachers Seminary. However, the school's early leaders didn't worry much about settling on a consistent name.

Dr. Jerry Pfabe, emeritus history professor and the university's archivist, has found references to a dozen official and unofficial names. Several of those names cropped up in the first few decades: Zweites Schullehrer Seminar zu Seward, Nebraska (The second school teachers' seminary): The school's only purpose in the early years was to train teachers for Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) parochial schools. The LCMS started its first teachers' seminary in Indiana and later moved it to Illinois.

Seward College: This was an unofficial name that appeared on baseball uniforms. No one knows for sure when Concordians first started playing organized sports, but they were believed to have adopted the Bulldog mascot in honor of Coach Walter Hellwege's pet bulldog, who accompanied him to games in the 1920s.

German College: This was an unofficial-sometimes derogatory-name used by Seward County residents to describe the college.

Lutheran Normal School: "Normal school" training was the term for teacher education programs in the early part of the century. Concordia began offering bachelor's degrees in 1939, but in many states teachers were not required to have bachelor's degrees for several more years.

Look long enough and you may still find the initials CTC stamped on objects around campus. Concordia Teachers College was the school's official name for more than 50 years. The "Teachers" was gradually dropped from recruitment materials as the curriculum expanded to include DCE and pre-seminary programs, followed by a host of liberal arts majors in the 1970s and 1980s. We were officially known as Concordia College from 1974-1998.

Although Concordia still operates as part of the LCMS, we recruit students from many Christian denominations.


Program accomplishments

Ranked No. 17 by U.S. News and World Report's Best Value Schools in the Midwest region, Concordia will provide you with a purposeful education that includes a variety of opportunities that are not always available to students at larger, public universities for a comparable cost to public universities in the Midwest*.


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