College Now Greater Cleveland
Legal name: College Now Greater Cleveland Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 346580096
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Cleveland, OH, US
- Phone
- (216) 241-5587
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $38,617,096
- Expenses
- $36,781,113
- Assets
- $38,996,849
- Liabilities
- $8,527,431
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
57 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LEE FRIEDMAN (CEO (THRU 12/2024))
- MICHELE SCOTT-TAYLOR (CEO (BEG 1/2025))
Highest reported compensation
- LEE FRIEDMAN (CEO (THRU 12/2024)): $682,102 total reported compensation
- MICHELE SCOTT-TAYLOR (CEO (BEG 1/2025)): $366,502 total reported compensation
- ALENKA WINSLETT (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $340,948 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
College Now increases access and completion of higher education by providing integrated college and career advising, financial aid counseling, scholarships and retention programs that empower student success – strengthening the region’s talent pipeline and economic prosperity.
What it reported doing in 2024
Advisory services: college now greater cleveland provided college and career access advising, student financial aid counseling, scholarship, and retention services to over 42,000 northeast Ohio students and individuals in one-on-one and group sessions. During the 2024-2025 academic year, college now served students and individuals virtually and in approximately 200 venues, including more than 100 middle and high schools in cuyahoga, geauga, lake, lorain, medina, richland, and summit counties. College now provides virtual, in-school, need-based services throughout the school year, after school, and during the summer. Core services include: academic advising - guidance on high school course planning; graduation requirements; course requirements for specific college majors and courses of study; and tips on time management skills necessary for postsecondary success; career exploration - guiding students as they explore their own interests and various career opportunities and the training/education that is required to be successful in a particular field, sharing information on specific careers that are in-demand in northeast Ohio, as well as extending opportunities for field visits and visits from professionals; college exploration, applications and enrollment - assisting students with researching postsecondary options, completing college applications, providing application fee waivers, visiting college campuses, and ensuring that students who have been accepted into college enroll and register for classes; and student financial aid counseling - guiding students and their families through the often-arduous process of seeking and applying for financial aid and scholarships, including the fafsa (free application for federal student aid), assisting with special circumstance appeals and requests for verification, identifying other financial aid sources, providing personalized strategies to secure maximum financial aid to help students persist to graduation with minimal student loan debt, interpreting the student aid report and financial aid award letters, and determining final college costs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 73
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.4%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 94.4%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: $25.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 4.8%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 90.4% of revenue deployed · 94.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 47 of 47 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $34.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $682K · 57 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $159K reported
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.