Brazos

Legal name: Acapita Education Finance Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742542435
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2021
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Waco, TX, US
Phone
1-800-453-0841
Rating
54
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,031,391,562
Expenses
$208,840
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS BEN LITLE (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS BEN LITLE (PRESIDENT/CEO): $775,095 total reported compensation
  • RICKY TURMAN (EVP/COO/CFO): $664,951 total reported compensation
  • KELLI UTTECH (SVP/GENERAL COUNSEL): $405,296 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2021. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

As a Texas non-profit, we are dedicated to improving lives by promoting college affordability and helping students and parents save money on their student loans.

What it reported doing in 2021

Aefc held student loans under the title iv federal family education loan program (ffelp), heal, teri and other alternative student loan programs. These loans were funded through temporary financings. During the fiscal year the company sold these loans to outside parties.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 33
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 100%; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 165.4%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -17.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $209K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $775K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2009 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 12 filed related-organization links
  • 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 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.