StepWise Online
Legal name: Academic Solutions Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 203842491
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2014
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2014
- Location
- South Bend, IN, USA
- Phone
- 5742732743
- Rating
- 63
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $314,835
- Expenses
- $297,092
- Assets
- $111,226
- Liabilities
- $8,150
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DOUG CAMPBELL (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- MARCEL LEBBIN (BOARD MEMBER)
- CINDY COHEN (BOARD MEMBER)
- KELLY BALL (BOARD MEMBER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To work with and serve children with academic challenges through the provision of assessments, strategies and behavioral interventions.
What it reported doing in 2014
Stepwise is the only facility in the state of Indiana offering assessment, cognitive startegies, behavioral intervention, and consultation services for children with academic challenges. We work collaborateively with the neighboring school districts and doctors for the students' academic and tutoring. Many times students need underlying cognitive skills built before they can begin learning the skills of reading, comprehension, or math. An example of this is that we may work with a student on improving their memory before teaching the skill set needed in mathmatics. We have served more than 3,000 since opening our doors in june of 2006.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 12
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 81.2%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $0 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.6%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -7% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 76.7% of revenue deployed · 81.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $241K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2011 to 2014
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 1/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.