Nafsa Association of International Educators

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131878953
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2027373699
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Academic Exchange

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,391,783
Expenses
$18,271,061
Assets
$33,646,568
Liabilities
$15,599,706

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AHMAD M EZZEDDINE PHD (PRESIDENT AND CHAIR)
  • JOANNA REGULSKA PHD (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JULIE SINCLAIR PHD (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SAMANTHA LU (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • FANTA AW (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO)
  • GILBERT DEANS (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CFO)

Highest reported compensation

  • FANTA AW (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO): $479,636 total reported compensation
  • GILBERT DEANS (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CFO): $258,881 total reported compensation
  • JILL ALLEN MURRAY (DEPUTY E.D., PUBLIC POLICY): $217,514 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.nafsa leads the way in advocating for a better world through international education by serving international educators, their institutions, and the profession, advancing international education in institutions of higher education, and promoting international education and the policies that sustain it in the public arena. The association helps define the profession of international education by establishing principles of good practice and providing professional development opportunities. Nafsa encourages networking among professionals by convening physical and virtual conferences and collaborative dialogues and promotes research and knowledge creation to strengthen and serve the field. Nafsa seeks to conduct international education in socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable ways.

What it reported doing in 2025

Conferences - the association provides various workshops and meetings that serve as a forum for the latest developments in international educational exchange. These meetings offer a concentrated opportunity for the exchange of ideas and offer a network for sharing information as it seeks to increase awareness of and support for international education. Since returning to in-person meetings in 2022 for annual conference and fall regional events, nafsa has seen attendance levels increase from 60% of pre-pandemic levels to over 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 76.7%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: 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; 64th 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: 10.4%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.84; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.1% of revenue deployed · 76.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $14M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $480K · 29 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.4M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.