Northern Baptist Theological Seminary

Private nonprofitSpecial Focus: Theological StudiesVery small

Fin. Resilience

Resilience score

vs. 284 peers in its group

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary is a private nonprofit institution in Lisle, IL, classified by Carnegie as “Special Focus: Theological Studies.”

It is benchmarked here against 284 peer institutions (Special Focus: Theological Studies · Private nonprofit).

On Ibex's Financial Resilience score it rates 32 out of 100 within that peer group, a transparent composite of endowment per undergraduate, net tuition revenue per student, and instructional spend per student.

Its strongest standing relative to peers is avg monthly faculty salary ($7,583, 79th percentile).

Its weakest is instructional spend / FTE ($5,850).

Peer group

Special Focus: Theological Studies · Private nonprofit

284 institutions

No cross-metric risk flags triggered.

What changedlargest year-over-year moves

Net tuition revenue / FTE ▼ -60% $19,601 → $7,858 2023→2024

Endowment (end of year) ▲ +28% $17.2M → $22M 2022→2023

Instructional spend / FTE ▼ -23% $7,596 → $5,850 2023→2024

Most recent single-year change in each tracked metric (rates in percentage points). Green = moved in this metric’s favorable direction, red = unfavorable, grey = size or context, not scored. Each row uses the latest pair of years that metric has, and federal collections release on different schedules, so the years differ from row to row: read the years on the row, not just the ranking. A single year is also not a trend, the multi-year series is on each metric’s card below.

Policy & demographic exposure

How exposed Northern Baptist Theological Seminary is to the structural shifts reshaping higher ed: a composite structural-risk index plus the 2025 federal budget law’s endowment excise tax, Grad PLUS elimination, new Parent PLUS borrowing cap and new Workforce Pell short-term-credential opportunity, and the demographic enrollment cliff. Only signals that apply to this institution are shown.

Enrollment cliff (home state)

-31.5%

Severe decline

Indicative signals, not forecasts, see each metric’s definition and the methodology. Endowment-tax, Grad PLUS, Parent PLUS and Workforce Pell figures appear only where the institution is exposed, and “nationally” compares against all schools that report each signal.

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Revenue composition

Where the money comes from $5.5M total revenue · IPEDS FY2022-23

Investment return is the largest single source at 40% of revenue.

Investment return39.9%

Tuition & fees37.6%

Private gifts & grants14.7%

Other revenue7.8%

Where each dollar of revenue comes from, as a share of total positive revenue. Sources are standardized across public (GASB) and private (FASB) reporting. A net investment loss in a down market is shown as 0% and excluded from the mix.

Financial Health

The bar under each rank is the spread across the peer group: the shaded box is the middle half, the pale line is their median, and the gold marker is this institution. Hover for the figures.

Net tuition revenue / FTECalculated from filings

Average

$7,858

37th percentile in peer grouppeer median $9,732

higher is better

2024-25 (Scorecard)283 peers

▼ -39% choppy

Instructional spend / FTECalculated from filings

Below peers

$5,850

26th percentile in peer grouppeer median $10,856

higher is better

2024-25 (Scorecard)283 peers

▼ -57% steady

Endowment (end of year)As filed

Average

$22M

61st percentile in peer grouppeer median $12.4M

higher is better

FY2022-23161 peers

▲ +25% choppy

Value of endowment assets at the end of the fiscal year (IPEDS finance, FY2022-23: FASB F2H02 / GASB F1H02), co-vintage with the other finance-year metrics on this page. Usually filed at the parent campus: most branch and online sub-units show the parent's endowment as a clearly labeled inherited value, and a few report a small endowment of their own alongside it. Multi-year trend from College Scorecard, shown only where it matches the IPEDS filing.

Avg monthly faculty salaryAs filed

Strong

$7,583

79th percentile in peer grouppeer median $5,707

higher is better

2024-25 (Scorecard)266 peers

Average monthly salary of full-time faculty, as reported to IPEDS.

State appropriations shareCalculated from filings

50th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0%

context, not scored

FY2022-23279 peers

State appropriations as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23). Material for public institutions, ~0 for private.

Administrative cost shareCalculated from filings

40%

84th percentile in peer grouppeer median 29%

context, not scored

FY2022-23280 peers

Institutional support, central administration, executive management, governance, general administration, fundraising and (under FASB rules) operation and maintenance of plant, as a share of total expenses (IPEDS FY2022-23, FASB). Private nonprofit institutions only: public (GASB) institutions report functional expenses on a different basis and frequently consolidate large hospital and auxiliary operations, which makes a comparable ratio unreliable, so they are not shown. Because FASB folds plant operations into institutional support, this runs higher than a narrow 'central-office' figure, and schools with sizable hospital or auxiliary operations show a lower ratio as those costs enlarge total expenses. An informational benchmark of administrative intensity, compared within the peer group, not a measure of waste or quality.

Endowment per FTE studentCalculated from filings

Average

$207,828

65th percentile in peer grouppeer median $87,112

higher is better

FY2022-23161 peers

End-of-year endowment ÷ 12-month FTE enrollment, endowment wealth per full-time-equivalent student. The FTE-correct companion to endowment-per-undergraduate. FTE counts graduate and part-time load, so research universities look less wealthy on this basis than on a headcount basis. Both sides are FY2022-23: the denominator is the FTE count from the endowment's own year (2022-23), not the newer FTE figure shown in the enrollment section, so dividing the two numbers on this page will not reproduce this one. Where one campus files finance for sister campuses that share its federal ID, the endowment covers all of them, so their FTE is counted too.

Spent on instructionCalculated from filings

11.1%

4th percentile in peer grouppeer median 31.4%

context, not scored

FY2022-23 (IPEDS)282 peers

Instruction spending divided by total functional expenses (IPEDS Finance, FY2022-23 (FASB)). 'Where the money goes' context, reported here for private-nonprofit (FASB) institutions only, where the functional split is comparable. It is not computed for public or for-profit institutions. Higher is not automatically better. Research universities and those with hospitals or large auxiliaries spread spending across other functions.

Spent on student servicesCalculated from filings

34th percentile in peer grouppeer median 10.4%

context, not scored

FY2022-23 (IPEDS)282 peers

Student-services spending (admissions, registrar, student life, counseling) divided by total functional expenses (IPEDS Finance, FY2022-23 (FASB)). Private-nonprofit (FASB) institutions only. Spending-mix context, not a quality measure.

Spent on academic supportCalculated from filings

23.6%

92nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 7%

context, not scored

FY2022-23 (IPEDS)282 peers

Academic-support spending (libraries, academic computing, deans' offices) divided by total functional expenses (IPEDS Finance, FY2022-23 (FASB)). Private-nonprofit (FASB) institutions only. Context, not a quality measure.

Spent on researchCalculated from filings

45th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0%

context, not scored

FY2022-23 (IPEDS)282 peers

Research spending divided by total functional expenses (IPEDS Finance, FY2022-23 (FASB)). Private-nonprofit (FASB) institutions only. It runs near zero at teaching-focused colleges and sizeable at research universities. Spending-mix context, not a quality measure.

Full-professor average salaryAs filed

Average

$65,705

54th percentile in peer grouppeer median $63,505

higher is better

2023-24168 peers

Average salary paid to full professors, the most senior instructional rank (IPEDS Human Resources, 2023-24, 9-month equated). It reflects both the school's pay scale and the seniority of its faculty, and it is a sizeable share of academic cost. Banded against the school's peer group.

Heightened Cash MonitoringRegulator / auditor finding

HCM1

Mar 2026 (Federal Student Aid)

The U.S. Department of Education places schools with financial-responsibility or compliance concerns on Heightened Cash Monitoring. HCM1 requires extra documentation before drawing federal aid. HCM2 is the more severe tier, paying the school only by reimbursement after it has disbursed its own funds. Shown only for currently flagged schools. Most institutions are not on the list. A red flag for closure or solvency risk.

Enrollment & Pipeline

The bar under each rank is the spread across the peer group: the shaded box is the middle half, the pale line is their median, and the gold marker is this institution. Hover for the figures.

12-month FTE enrollmentAs filed

231

79th percentile in peer grouppeer median 112

context, not scored

2023-24 (IPEDS)284 peers

Full-time-equivalent enrollment over the full 12-month year (IPEDS 12-month enrollment, 2023-24). Counts part-time students at their fractional load, so it runs above fall full-time headcount and is the denominator used for per-student finance measures.

Fully online studentsAs filed

22nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 7.5%

context, not scored

Fall 2023 (IPEDS)284 peers

Share of students enrolled exclusively in distance-education courses (IPEDS, Fall 2023). Describes delivery model, not quality. Online-heavy institutions look different on residential measures.

Applicant-pool diversity shiftModelled by Ibex

+1.4 pts

WICHE 2024 (11th ed.)

Percentage-point change in the non-white share of the institution's home-state public high-school graduating class between the class of 2025 (the national peak) and 2037 (WICHE, Knocking at the College Door, 11th ed., public-school race detail). A forward look at who the future applicant pool will be: a positive value means the state's graduating class is projected to grow more racially diverse. Strategic recruiting context, not a forecast of any one school's enrollment, and a college recruits from many states.

Hybrid (some online) enrollmentAs filed

25th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0%

context, not scored

Fall 2023284 peers

Share of all students taking some, but not all, of their courses at a distance (IPEDS, Fall 2023). This is the hybrid middle ground between the fully online share and the fully in-person share, and it signals how far a school has moved coursework online without going exclusively remote. Context metric, not better or worse. Shown as a position within the peer group, not as a score.

Graduate share of enrollmentAs filed

100%

84th percentile in peer grouppeer median 32%

context, not scored

Fall 2023284 peers

Graduate students as a share of total headcount enrollment (IPEDS, Fall 2023). It separates research-intensive universities with large graduate bodies from undergraduate-focused institutions. Context metric, not better or worse. Shown as a position within the peer group, not as a score.

Women share of facultyAs filed

16.7%

43rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 22.6%

context, not scored

Fall 2023282 peers

Women as a share of all instructional staff, full- and part-time combined (IPEDS Human Resources, Fall 2023). A gender-composition signal for the teaching workforce. Context metric, not better or worse. Shown as a position within the peer group, not as a score.

Faculty of color shareAs filed

33.3%

79th percentile in peer grouppeer median 7.4%

context, not scored

Fall 2023282 peers

Instructional staff who are American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or two-or-more races, as a share of all instructional staff (IPEDS Human Resources, Fall 2023). Nonresident and race-unknown staff are excluded from the numerator. Context metric, not better or worse. Shown as a position within the peer group, not as a score.

Direct competitors within 100 miCalculated from filings

Average

60th percentile in peer grouppeer median 8

lower is better

2024-25 (Scorecard universe)284 peers

How many institutions in the same Ibex peer group, the schools most likely to compete for the same students, sit within roughly 100 miles. For most schools the peer group is the same Carnegie classification and control. Schools in small classes sit in broader fallback groups by level, sector or region (see Peer groups in the methodology), and for them the count is looser. A higher count means a more crowded local market and a harder yield fight, which matters most as the regional pool of high school graduates shrinks. A low count means the school has its catchment largely to itself. Distance is straight-line from campus coordinates. Banded against the school's peer group. Fewer is better for recruiting power.

Metro-area unemployment rateAs filed

Average

6.1%

58th percentile in peer grouppeer median 5.7%

lower is better

ACS 2020-24279 peers

The civilian unemployment rate in the school's metropolitan or micropolitan area (US Census ACS 2020-24, mapped by the school's federal CBSA code). It is a proxy for local labor demand: a lower rate means a tighter job market, a stronger near-term destination for graduates and a smaller pool of working adults to recruit. It describes the local economy, not the school. Schools outside any metro area are not scored. Banded against the school's peer group.

On-campus crime rateAs filed

Average

0 per 1k

43rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 0 per 1k

lower is better

2024 (Clery)173 peers

Criminal offenses reported on campus in 2024 (murder, manslaughter, the four sex-offense categories, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor-vehicle theft and arson) per 1,000 students, from the school's federal Clery Act filing. Offenses are summed across the institution's campuses and divided by its total enrollment. A higher number does not always mean a more dangerous school: thorough reporting and dense residential campuses raise it. Lower is generally safer. Banded against the school's peer group.

Enrollment cliff (home state)External projection

Severe decline

-31.5%

WICHE 2024 (11th ed.) projection

Projected change in the number of high-school graduates in the institution's HOME STATE from the class of 2025 (the national peak) to 2041, per WICHE's Knocking at the College Door, 11th Edition (Dec 2024). The 'enrollment cliff' is the post-2008 birth decline reaching college age. The U.S. total is projected to fall about 13% over this window. A college recruits from many states, so its home-state projection is an indicative directional signal of feeder-market pressure, not a forecast of that institution's own enrollment. A projection, not a measurement: WICHE's state-level forecast of high-school graduates. It describes the pool a school recruits from, not the school's own enrollment.

Shown exactly as the institution filed it. The value falls outside the normal range for this measure, which usually means a reporting quirk rather than a real figure, so read it with care.

In-state HS graduatesExternal projection

144,561

59th percentile in peer grouppeer median 137,304

context, not scored

Class of 2025 (WICHE)281 peers

The size of the school's home-state high-school graduating class in 2025 (WICHE Knocking at the College Door, public and private combined). It is the near-term in-state feeder market, the complement to the enrollment-cliff projection, which shows the direction that market is heading. Context metric, not better or worse. Shown as a position within the peer group, not as a score.

Net tuition revenue momentum (CAGR)Modelled by Ibex

-6%

11th percentile in peer grouppeer median 2.4%

context, not scored

2016-17 to 2024-25 (Scorecard)269 peers

Compound annual growth rate of net tuition revenue per full-time-equivalent student over the tracked years, in nominal dollars (not adjusted for inflation). This is what the institution collects per student after its own discounts, not the net price a family pays (see Net price for that). A rising rate strengthens revenue but can strain affordability and yield, so it is shown as context rather than scored. Compared with the school's peer group. The window shown is the one this school's own figure was measured over: it is shorter where the series starts late, ends early, or is cut at a reporting change, so peers are not all measured over identical years.

Shown exactly as the institution filed it. The value falls outside the normal range for this measure, which usually means a reporting quirk rather than a real figure, so read it with care.

Student Outcomes & Risk

The bar under each rank is the spread across the peer group: the shaded box is the middle half, the pale line is their median, and the gold marker is this institution. Hover for the figures.

3-yr cohort default rateAs filed

Average

42nd percentile in peer grouppeer median 4.9%

lower is better

FY2017 cohort178 peers

Share of borrowers who defaulted within three years of entering repayment (U.S. Dept. of Education official cohort default rate). Shown for the FY2017 borrower cohort, the most recent cohort whose full three-year default window closed before the 2020-23 federal student-loan payment pause. More recent cohorts are reported by the College Scorecard at essentially 0%, but that reflects the payment pause (no payments were due, so almost no one could default), not borrower health, so the pre-pause cohort is the last meaningful reading. Lower is better.

Full-time faculty shareAs filed

Average

71.4%

51st percentile in peer grouppeer median 71.4%

higher is better

2024-25 (Scorecard)165 peers

Where these numbers come from

Every figure on this page carries one of these labels. They are not degrees of confidence: a projection is not a worse number than a filing, it is a different kind of claim, and the distinction is invisible when both are set in the same grey card.

As filedThis is the institution's own figure as filed with a federal collection, or a federal agency's own published figure about it. Ibex has not adjusted it.

Calculated from filingsCalculated by Ibex from figures in the same federal filing, using nothing but arithmetic: a share, a ratio, or an amount per student. It is exactly as sound as the filed numbers it divides.

Modelled by IbexFitted or extrapolated by Ibex from the institution's reported history. This number appears in no federal file: it is a summary of a trend, and it inherits every irregularity in the years it was fitted through.

External projectionBuilt on an external projection about the future, published by a research body rather than measured. Projections are revised as the underlying assumptions change, and this one describes a scenario, not a fact.

Regulator / auditor findingA finding published by a regulator or an independent auditor about this institution. It is a statement someone made in writing, not a measurement Ibex or the school took.

Top fields of study (all levels)

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary’s largest fields by completions, with graduate earnings (4 years out) and debt benchmarked against the same field at its peer group. Sparklines show the 8-year completions trend.

Field	Completions / yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs out	Median debt	Earnings premium	Risk score
Philosophy & Religious Studies	31	–	–	–	Low · 0
Theology & Religious Vocations	7	–	$53,557 74th pct · 52 peers	–	High · 75
Philosophy & Religious Studies	1	–	–	–	–

Earnings-premium status is an indicative estimate: median graduate earnings four years out vs the IL state median earnings of a high-school graduate (undergraduate credentials) or a bachelor’s-degree holder (graduate credentials) from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2020-24). The official U.S. Department of Education determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.

The risk score (0–100) is an indicative blend of earnings-premium margin and the yearly completions growth rate, higher means a field pays closer to (or below) the benchmark and is shrinking. A directional screen, not an official determination.

Major-level detail (CIP 4-digit)

Philosophy & Religious Studies – 1 CIP program (4-digit), 0 with earnings

Major (CIP 4-digit)	Compl./yr	Earn 4yr	Earn 1yr	% > threshold	Median debt	Debt/earn	Earnings premium	2 of 3 yrs
Religion/Religious StudiesCIP 3802 ›	31	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Major-level earnings, debt and threshold pass-rates are reported by College Scorecard only where enough graduates exist to protect privacy, so 0 of 1 major shows an earnings figure. The rest read “–”. % > threshold is ED’s own share of graduates out-earning the federal earnings threshold (the do-no-harm pass rate), drawn from the best available measurement window (4-, 5- or 1-year) pooled across all nine College Scorecard Field-of-Study releases. A small chip marks any figure not on the 4-year window, and hovering names the cohort size and source release. 2 of 3 yrs flags fields below the earnings-premium benchmark in two of the latest three reported cohort-years, the statutory trigger under the 2025 test (effective July 1, 2026). Indicative. The Department of Education’s official determination may differ. Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study (2014–15 through 2022–23 cohorts + most-recent snapshot), accessed March 2026.

Theology & Religious Vocations – 1 CIP program (4-digit), 0 with earnings

Major (CIP 4-digit)	Compl./yr	Earn 4yr	Earn 1yr	% > threshold	Median debt	Debt/earn	Earnings premium	2 of 3 yrs
Theological and Ministerial StudiesCIP 3906 ›	7	–	–	–	$53,557	–	–	–

Philosophy & Religious Studies – 1 CIP program (4-digit), 0 with earnings

Major (CIP 4-digit)	Compl./yr	Earn 4yr	Earn 1yr	% > threshold	Median debt	Debt/earn	Earnings premium	2 of 3 yrs
Religion/Religious StudiesCIP 3802 ›	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

See the interactive dashboard for all fields and credential levels (associate through doctoral). Source: College Scorecard Field of Study.

Frequently asked

Which schools are Northern Baptist Theological Seminary's peers?

Northern Baptist Theological Seminary is benchmarked against 284 institutions in the Special Focus: Theological Studies · Private nonprofit peer group. All percentiles and medians on this page are computed within that group.

Compare with peers

Academy for Jewish Religion Academy for Jewish Religion California Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary Aquinas Institute of Theology Asbury Theological Seminary Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary

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Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent releases), with the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections, field-demand outlook) and WICHE (enrollment-cliff projections). Most figures lag the current academic year by two to three years; earnings and debt come from the 2020-21 file and a few measures from older files, and each card states its own data year. Percentiles and medians are computed within the institution's peer group. Financial Resilience is a transparent composite, see each component above. Compiled by Ibex Insights.