Baker College

Legal name: Baker College Group Return

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
830686168
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2021
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2021
Location
Owosso, MI, USA
Phone
231-876-3614
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Higher Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$58,098,620
Expenses
$87,620,251
Assets
$153,733,199
Liabilities
$27,095,139

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BART DAIG (BOARD OF REGENTS/PRESIDENT CEO/TRUSTEE)
  • JILL LANGEN (PRESIDENT-ST FRANCIS/PROVOST/SECRETARY)
  • AARON MAIKE (PRESIDENT - MUSKEGON)
  • LESA LOUCH (PRESIDENT ONLINE)
  • PETER KARSTEN (PRESIDENT - AUBURN HILLS)

Highest reported compensation

  • BART DAIG (BOARD OF REGENTS/PRESIDENT CEO/TRUSTEE): $403,487 total reported compensation
  • JACQUELINE SPICER (COO): $318,459 total reported compensation
  • JILL LANGEN (PRESIDENT-ST FRANCIS/PROVOST/SECRETARY): $286,508 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Baker College prepares students for their dream careers through accessible, career-focused education.

What it reported doing in 2021

A private college in Michigan, baker college is accredited by the higher learning commission and is a member of hlc. Baker college is a non-profit higher education institution, serving students at locations throughout Michigan and online worldwide. Baker college subordinate organizations provide certificate, associate, bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees in various service and technical fields. For the 2021-22 fiscal year, baker college had a total of 4,792 students with a total of 98,741 credit hours. Awarded $7,609,718 in scholarships to 3,363 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 71% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.7%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -50.8%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.75; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.3% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -12.7% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -15.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 98.7% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 66 of 88 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $72.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $403K · 22 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2017 to 2021
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.