National Association of Scholars Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
112741490
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2009
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
9175516770
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Higher Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,760,404
Expenses
$3,222,848
Assets
$6,797,430
Liabilities
$512,934

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER WOOD (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER WOOD (PRESIDENT): $303,561 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER GONZALEZ (DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR): $109,953 total reported compensation
  • PETRU KOKORA (CONTROLLER): $108,228 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The national association of scholars is a network of scholars and others committed to upholding the standards of a liberal arts education that fosters intellectual freedom, investigate relevant issues, and promote higher education.

What it reported doing in 2025

Advocacy, commentary and meetingsnational association of scholars advocates for higher education reform and freedom of speech and conscience. We engage public support for worthy reforms. In our writing we advocate publicly for the intellectual freedom of faculty members, administrators, students, and invited campus speakers. Our website presents daily opinion and commentary on developments and trends in higher education. A high-traffic destination linked by major online publications, nas.org publishes substantial op-ed style articles by guest authors and nas staff, along with debates and videos.nas holds national and regional meetings that focus on important issues and public policy debates in higher education today. At these meetings and conferences, those concerned about higher education convene to discuss issues of the moment, propose reforms, and recognize individual achievements.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.3%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $45.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

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; 75th 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.8%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.11; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $304K · 21 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.