Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
392039932
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Suwanee, GA, USA
Phone
7704761224
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,043,798
Expenses
$8,125,870
Assets
$21,213,029
Liabilities
$7,329,028

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHARON L LUKE (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHARON L LUKE (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $441,831 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA COFFMAN (EXECUTIVE ACCREDITATION DIRECTOR): $275,373 total reported compensation
  • SONIA RATLIFF (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $264,724 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Accrediting agency that protects the interests of the public, current & prospective pa students, & pa profession by defining the standards for pa education & evaluating pa educational programs within the territorial u.s. To ensure their compliance with those standards.

What it reported doing in 2024

Commission accreditation activities fiscal year 2023accreditation action taken on:20 continuing program applications21 provisional program applications34 provisional monitoring applications18 probation site visits5 post-graduate monitoring applications

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 93% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Liabilities are high compared with assets and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.2%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.1%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.61; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.2% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $442K · 28 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.