Hispanic Scholarship Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521051044
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
El Segundo, CA, USA
Phone
3105799216
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$128,809,486
Expenses
$76,443,028
Assets
$198,022,896
Liabilities
$46,778,337

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FIDEL A VARGAS (PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • FIDEL A VARGAS (PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $753,310 total reported compensation
  • VICTORIA HARDY (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $501,548 total reported compensation
  • JULIE HITE (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $481,986 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Empower students and parents with the knowledge and resources to successfully complete a higher education, while providing support services and scholarships to as many exceptional students, Scholars, and Alumni as possible.

What it reported doing in 2025

Support services - hsf support services enables and empowers students, parents, participants, scholars, and alumni to set a course for academic and career success. Hsf provides free, multilingual, college preparation programs held virtually, and in various cities across the country, designed to help students and their parents prepare, plan, and pay for college. Additional multi-day programs for selected hsf scholars, alumni, and leaders provide leadership development, career services, knowledge building, coaching, mentorship, and wellness as well as opportunities to interview for internships and full-time employment positions. In addition, through its online myhsf portal, hsf provides free information and resources to all visitors, including students and their parents, current hsf scholars, alumni and others on a range of topics related to college and career.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 50% for direct work, and 50% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.8%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 96%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $426 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 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: 40.7%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.59; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.9%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 58.8% of revenue deployed · 96% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $73.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $753K · 19 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 39 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 323 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 317 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.