Lutheran College Washington Semester

Legal name: Lutheran College Washington Consortium

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541893621
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
7035255292
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,436,371
Expenses
$1,198,071
Assets
$4,092,450
Liabilities
$294,269

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dr Emily Wanless (President)
  • Dr Rebecca Moore (Vice President)
  • Dr Edward Hasecke (Dean & Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dr Edward Hasecke (Dean & Executive Director): $161,699 total reported compensation
  • Dr Todd Peppers (Director): $2,250 total reported compensation
  • Dr Emily Wanless (President): $750 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 provide an immersive study-away experience that helps students learn and intern in Washington, D.C. through experiential education and tailored career development support. The Lutheran College Washington Semester (LCWS) is an immersive and transformative study-away program designed to provide students with a unique opportunity to learn and intern in the nation's capital. We believe that learning extends far beyond the confines of a traditional classroom, and our program is built on the principle that experiential education is the key to unlocking personal and intellectual growth. We strive to connect students with internship opportunities to help provide real-world experience to further their educational and professional goals. We also strive to prepare students for life after college and to make them more active citizens in their communities. LCWS is open to.

What it reported doing in 2024

To provide residential semester programs in the Washington DC metro area to students attending Lutheran affiliated colleges. Each semester LCWS welcomes 40 to 50 students to Washington, D.C. and is proud to extend the quality of education from each of our schools to students while they live and work in the Nation's Capital.Through professional engagement in a competitive internship placement, academic inquiry in challenging weekly classes, and whole-hearted participation in the day-to-day life of Washington, D.C., students gain a new perspective on what it means to be an active member of society in a culturally diverse world. Students of the program leave Washington, D.C., with a newfound confidence in who they are and a better sense of their purpose in life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 88% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.6%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.42; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 76% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $987K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 15 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.