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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Samuel Merritt University

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 942992642
CA · NTEE B500
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Ching-hua Wang, Executive Director / CEO ($989,785) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 222 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 90th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Ching-hua Wang — reported title “President”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

222 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 222 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,105 total compensation of comparable organizations → $10,358,617 $989,785
$212,48510th
$360,33225th
$533,528Median
$724,25075th
$977,41690th
$989,785This org · 90th
p10$212,485
p25$360,332
p50$533,528
p75$724,250
p90$977,416
$989,785

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to CA cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
The Corporation Of Saint Mary's College Notre Dame IN$134,775,479 President $500,462 $611,193 2024
Equitable Facilities Fund Inc NY$134,913,992 Ceo $613,477 $641,984 2024
Maryland Institute MD$134,606,537 President $752,930 $815,192 2024
Horace Mann School NY$134,391,895 Head Of School $1,953,517 $2,104,677 2023
Southeastern University Inc FL$135,510,469 President $729,189 $793,301 2024
🔒 217 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to CA cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default90th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)95th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted93rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted88th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 222-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.