Illinois College of Optometry
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 362310478
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, US
- Phone
- (312)949-7400
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Graduate, Professional Schools (Separate Entities)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $45,393,261
- Expenses
- $38,943,127
- Assets
- $105,639,295
- Liabilities
- $27,421,055
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
32 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Mark Colip OD (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Mark Colip OD (President): $491,412 total reported compensation
- Stephanie Messner OD (VP of Academic Affairs): $318,182 total reported compensation
- Leonard Messner OD (VP of Patient Care): $305,080 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Make a real difference in optometry and the world.
What it reported doing in 2024
CLINIC: The Illinois Eye Institute (IEI) acts as a safety net provider of eye and vision services for the Chicago area, serving diverse patients with complex needs. The clinic received approximately 85,000 patient visits in the previous year (48,000 to providers, 37,000 to optical). The site is a vital community resource for Medicaid and Medicare patients, as well as underinsured and uninsured patients. Specialty areas of the clinic include (but are not limited to) Pediatrics, Developmental Disability Clinics, Binocular Vision Service, Urgent Care, Cornea and Contact Lenses, Glaucoma Care, Retina and Vitreous Care, and Low Vision Care. The IEI acts as a teaching clinic that aides in the education of students as they pursue Doctor of Optometry degrees.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 80% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 65
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71.1%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $21.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th 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: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14.2%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.71; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 71.1% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $29.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $491K · 32 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $371K reported
- Consistency: 47 of 48 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 24/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.