Academy College Prep
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 874035413
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Atherton, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6502188900
- Rating
- 40
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $266,897
- Expenses
- $267,893
- Assets
- $8,902
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Nicholas Ralston (Technical Product Manager): $129,014 total reported compensation
- Michael Ralston (Assistant Product Manager): $77,049 total reported compensation
- Lauren Van Stralen (Intern): $3,974 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
College Advising - supporting low-income students through the college application process at no cost.
What it reported doing in 2025
We work with students as they research colleges and complete college applications
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 4
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 24
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 4%; rating input score 4
- Program expense ratio: 4%; rating input score 4
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Limited
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.4%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -75.2% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 4% of revenue deployed · 4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 4/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 4/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.