Council on Legal Education Opportunity Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454462410
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
2405828600
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$484,512
Expenses
$801,359
Assets
$813,888
Liabilities
$516,899

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JUAN CARLOS POLANCO (FORMER CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JUAN CARLOS POLANCO (FORMER CEO): $166,667 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To enhance the legal profession by supporting aspiring lawyers from all backgrounds in accessing a legal education and achieving professional success.

What it reported doing in 2024

Programs for pre-law, incoming law, and current law students: bar prep program - in collaboration with the national conference of bar examiners (ncbe), cleo offers its law students academic enhancement and bar prep webinars, weekly emails with mbe questions for 2ls and 3ls, bar mentoring, mbe and mpt essay tutoring for 3ls, discounts with bar prep courses, and bar prep stipends.1l-prep attitude is essential (aie) seminars - the aie program provides college students admitted to a law school a head start on law school and learning in a supportive environment. The online seminar exposes students to the best practices for: case briefing, legal research and writing, conquering law school exams, and managing time and finances. Achieving success in the application process (asap) seminars - the asap program prepares talented and motivated students to gain admission to and succeed in law school. The program curriculum focuses on aspects of the law school application process that are commonly overlooked or undervalued by students when applying to law school. These seminars are open to college juniors and seniors, as well as post-graduates. These seminars are held in various cities throughout the united states.pre-law summer institute program - this program is a six-week simulation of the first year of law school beginning with two weeks of virtual instruction followed by four weeks on the campus of a major law school in the united states each year. Pre-law school students participate in a rigorous and demanding full-time program that helps demystify the law school experience to build self-confidence and self-assurance for the attendees. The program develops abstract thinking, analysis, and synthesizing skills.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.2%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 40%; rating input score 40
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -65.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.02; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.64; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.8%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.2% of revenue deployed · 40% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $321K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $167K · 14 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.