Liberty University’s Executive Windfalls: Lavish Salaries Raise Eyebrows
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Liberty University, the evangelical powerhouse founded by Jerry Falwell Sr., has long touted its mission of “Training Champions for Christ.”
But a deep dive into its latest IRS Form 990 filing for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, reveals a different kind of championship: one in executive compensation. Its top officers and insiders are pocketing salaries rivaling those of Fortune 500 CEOs, while the institution operates as a tax-exempt nonprofit.
The filing, obtained via ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer, shows Liberty dishing out more than $18 million in reportable compensation to its officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and highest-paid staff.
That’s a staggering sum, even for a school that reported $1.8 billion in total revenue, much of it from program services like tuition. Critics argue this generosity borders on excess, especially when directed at figures whose roles appear ceremonial or part-time, raising questions about stewardship of donor and student funds.
Take Dr. Jerry Prevo, the university’s president emeritus and trustee. The 79-year-old former Alaska pastor pulled in $784,082 in reportable compensation—nearly $800,000—for what sources describe as minimal on-campus involvement.
Prevo, who served as interim president after Jerry Falwell Jr.’s scandal-plagued resignation in 2020 and then as full president until 2023, now holds an emeritus title that implies advisory duties at best. But investigations by the Trinity Foundation, a watchdog group tracking religious nonprofits, have long highlighted Prevo’s frequent absences from Liberty’s campus in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Trinity Foundation staff investigator Barry Bowen has documented Liberty’s private jet usage, including a Beechcraft Super King Air, showing repeated flights to Anchorage, Alaska—Prevo’s home state—and Phoenix where he owns a second home.
In a 2021 analysis, Bowen noted that Prevo’s Anchorage roots explained the Alaska trips but questioned the cost to the university.
Equally eyebrow-raising is the Rev. Jonathan Falwell’s compensation explosion. The senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church—Liberty’s founding congregation—saw his university pay balloon nearly 400% from about $209,000 in the prior fiscal year (ending June 2023, when he was listed as a trustee and campus pastor) to $822,573 in 2024.
This quadrupling coincided with his appointment as chancellor, a role he holds alongside his full-time pastoral duties. Falwell logs just 30 hours per week at Liberty, per the Form 990, making his near-million-dollar haul seem exceptional for what appears to be a part-time gig.
Previous filings underscore the jump: In fiscal 2022 (ending June 2022), Falwell earned around $200,000 in similar roles. As chancellor, he oversees ceremonial functions and provides spiritual guidance, but detractors argue it’s a sweetheart deal for the Falwell family name.
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