Trent University
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
B+
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
n/r
DEMONSTRATED IMPACT
The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.
NEED FOR FUNDING
Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
66%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 66 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Trent University:
Trent University is a 3-star charity. It is financially transparent and has a B+ results reporting grade which is above average. Its overhead spending is 34% which is within Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserve funds can cover program costs for six months, which is also within Ci’s reasonable range.
Founded in 1964, Trent University (TRENT) is a public university in Ontario with two campuses, one in Peterborough and one in Durham. It aims to create an engaging and inclusive community of learning. It offers over 100 academic programs, including the arts, sciences, social sciences and professional programs for undergraduate and graduate students.
TRENT appears to fund two main areas: Academics and research. The charity does not provide a breakdown on its $227.0m in program spending for fiscal year ending April 2024 (F2024).
Academics enhance the student experience through quality education, career experience, academic advisors and providing financial aid and scholarships. For the 2024-2025 academic year, TRENT had a 20:1 student to faculty ratio and 13,768 students.
Research aims to improve the knowledge, technologies, and services of TRENT’s disciplines. Key research areas include humanities, culture and indigenous studies, aging health, sustainability and the environment. In 2023, the charity had over 150 news stories and press releases and 484 active research reports. For the 2024-2025 academic year, it had 1,037 graduate students.
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Results and Impact
In 2022, TRENT University reported 95% of graduates were employed within two years and 91% of students were satisfied with the teaching quality. In 2023, there was a 20% increase in the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant funding success rate.
Ci has not calculated TRENT’s impact. This shows as n/r and does not affect the star rating. While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent TRENT’s results and impact.
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Finances
Trent University’s audited financial statements follow line-item costing, which is not a best practice. This means Ci referred to TRENT’s T3010 filings with the CRA Charities Directorate to report program, administrative and fundraising costs.
TRENT received $3.9m in donations in F2024. In F2024, it received $187.7m from fees for its services, which is 62% of total revenue. This is a 15% increase from the previous year of $163.3m. In F2024, it received $79.4m in government funding, which is 26% of total revenue. TRENT recorded a surplus of $61.0m in F2024.
TRENT spent $1.2m on fundraising costs, which is 29% of donations. It spent $13.1m on administrative costs, which is 5% of revenue. TRENT has overhead spending of 34%. For every dollar donated to TRENT, 66 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
TRENT has $192.1m in reserve funds (cash and investments). It has donor-endowments of $85.8m. TRENT’s reserve funds can cover 48% or six months of its annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
This report is an update that has been sent to Trent University for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on May 27, 2025, by Leah DeFrancesco.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending April
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 4.5% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 29.5% | 17.3% | 16.7% |
| Total overhead spending | 34.0% | 21.1% | 21.9% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 47.7% | 29.8% | 13.2% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 3,918 | 6,481 | 6,334 |
| International donations | 749 | 1,072 | 532 |
| Government funding | 79,447 | 70,093 | 66,811 |
| Fees for service | 187,674 | 163,278 | 136,241 |
| Investment income | 11,768 | 6,741 | 2,561 |
| Other income | 18,744 | 12,066 | 10,934 |
| Total revenues | 302,300 | 259,731 | 223,413 |
| Program costs | 227,031 | 199,895 | 183,667 |
| Grants | 37 | 33 | 0 |
| Administrative costs | 13,080 | 9,603 | 11,532 |
| Fundraising costs | 1,155 | 1,120 | 1,055 |
| Total spending | 241,303 | 210,652 | 196,254 |
| Cash flow from operations | 60,997 | 49,079 | 27,159 |
| Capital spending | 14,089 | 8,997 | 6,458 |
| Funding reserves | 192,138 | 138,842 | 97,208 |
Note: 1. Deferred Revenue: Ci adjusted for deferred revenue, which affected revenue by $4.5m in F2024, $13.6m in F2023, and $3.7m in F2022. 2. Amortization: Ci removed amortization of $10.5m in F2024, $9.7m in F2023, and $9.6m in F2022 from programming, administrative and fundraising costs on a pro-rata basis. 3. Ci adjusted for the change in fair value of employee future benefits financial instruments which increased expenses by 12k in F2024, 7k in F2023, and 732k in F2022.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
1 |
$250k - $300k |
1 |
$200k - $250k |
8 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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