Applied Scholastics Spanish Lake

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862172360
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3143556355
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$332,831
Expenses
$296,892
Assets
$45,745
Liabilities
$160,363

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chris Gerson (President)

People named in this filing

  • Steven L Hayes (Director)
  • Timothy Bowles (Director)
  • G Craig Burton (Director, CFO/Treasurer)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To improve and revitalize the field of education by instructing students and teachers in the proper method of studying using Study Technology developed by educator and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education & Literacy - Applied Scholastics Spanish Lake trains adult educators and students in its Applied Scholastics Educator Institute, a post-secondary, proprietary school certified with the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development. While most training is conducted at the Institutes St Louis campus, some was delivered in countries such as Ghana and Liberia. Students learn how to: recognize and overcome learning barriers; work within classrooms with diverse levels of student competency; close the gaps in student academic achievement; tutor using specialized techniques for phonics, sight word repertoire, subject vocabulary and comprehension strategies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $89.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 10.8%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.51; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.3% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.8% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $263K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.