The University of Alberta is a 5-star rated charity. It has above average disclosure with an A results reporting grade. Its overhead spending and reserve funds are both within Ci’s reasonable range.

A Charity Intelligence 2025 Top 100 Rated Charity.

Founded in 1908, University of Alberta (U of A) is a public research university in Edmonton. U of A has five campuses. Four are in Edmonton: the original North Campus, South Campus, Campus Saint-Jean, and Enterprise Square. Its North Campus sits next to the North Saskatchewan River Valley, North America's largest urban park. Augustana Campus is in Camrose, Alberta. The 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings placed U of A first in Canada and sixth in the world for sustainability impact.

Alberta has historically had the lowest university participation rate in Canada, trailing behind BC and Ontario at 34%. Over the next decade, Alberta will see significant growth in the traditional university-aged population, increasing demand for post-secondary education.

U of A runs two main programs: Learning and Research. In F2025, U of A spent $1.8 billion on its programs. This includes $23.7m in grants.

Learning was the largest program in F2025. It accounted for $1.0 billion or 59% of program spending. U of A offers over 200 undergraduate and over 500 graduate programs. In F2025, total enrolment was 46,201 students. Of these, 82% were domestic and 18% were international. Indigenous students made up 2,184 of total enrolment. U of A aims to grow enrolment to over 50,000 students by 2026 and over 60,000 by 2030.

Research accounted for $483.6m or 27% of program spending in F2025. In F2025, U of A filed 81 patent applications and was granted 41 patents. It executed 68 revenue agreements including licenses, royalties, and options. It produced five new spinoffs and 90 new inventions. Spinoffs are independent companies built on technology developed through U of A research.

Ancillary services and Facility Operations and Maintenance accounted for the remaining $233.1m or 13% of program spending.

University of Alberta is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities in terms of donations. In F2025, it received total revenues of $2.2 billion. Government funding was $1.0 billion or 45% of revenues. Student tuition and fees accounted for $508.3m or 23% of revenues. In F2025, U of A received $195.9m, or 9% of revenues, in donations.

In F2025, the University of Alberta spent $1.8 billion or 79% of revenues on its programs. Administrative costs were $151.6m or 8% of revenues. Fundraising costs were $7.5m or 4% of donations. For every dollar donated to the university, 89 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

In F2025, the university had $3.5 billion in cash and investments. It also had debt of $336.5m. In total, net funding reserves were $3.2 billion. This includes $1.9 billion in donor-endowed funds. The university’s funding reserves (less donor-endowed) can cover 9 months of its annual program costs.

Updated on June 12, 2026 by Raihan Firosh. Comments and corrections may ne forthcoming.