Commission on English Language Program Accreditation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 541959691
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Alexandria, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7036653400
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Management & Technical Assistance
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,722,413
- Expenses
- $1,880,832
- Assets
- $2,908,894
- Liabilities
- $186,352
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HEIDI VELLENGA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- HEIDI VELLENGA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $208,441 total reported compensation
- MARIA B VASSILIEVA (DIRECTOR OF COMPLIANCE): $137,742 total reported compensation
- RACHEL D HERMAN (ACCREDITATION PROCESS AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGER): $127,016 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Cea's mission is to protect the interests of students and promote excellence in the field of english language teaching and administration through accreditation of english language programs and institutions worldwide. Cea achieves its mission by advancing widely-held standards to foster student success and continuous program development through a rigorous process of regular self-assessment and peer evaluation.
What it reported doing in 2024
Cea is a usde-recognized accreditation agency that conducts a quality assurance process, maintains standards, and provides program development for 340+ intensive english programs in the us and internationally.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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 - 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: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 55
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 32
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 99.4%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 91%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- 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: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -9.2%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 25.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 99.4% of revenue deployed · 91% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $208K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.