PA Education Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237198463
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
7035485538
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Religion Related N.E.C.
Affiliation
Religious (unspecified)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,322,109
Expenses
$15,487,293
Assets
$30,097,455
Liabilities
$4,686,486

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARA FLETCHER (CEO)
  • NICOLE BURWELL (PRESIDENT)
  • DIPU PATEL (PRESIDENT EL)
  • MICHAEL ROSCOE (PRESIDENT EL)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA FLETCHER (CEO): $449,520 total reported compensation
  • ZACHARY BRITT (CHIEF OPERAT): $292,279 total reported compensation
  • OLIVIA WALTON ZIEGLER (CHIEF EXPERI): $248,497 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Advancing excellence in PA education through leadership, scholarship, equity, and inclusion. Supports the development of a diverse and skilled Board reflective of the PA education community Prioritizes leadership qualities, lived experience, and commitment to PAEA’s mission Increases PAEA’s capacity to lead in a complex and evolving landscape. Celebrating Your Success Your achievements deserve to be celebrated. Through our Staff Awards program and regular team activities, we create a culture where every contribution is valued and every team member can thrive. Here, recognition goes beyond awards – it’s about building a community where you feel seen, appreciated, and empowered to make an impact. Hear From Our Team > “At PAEA, you can truly feel the support of your colleagues and see that they care about their work, which makes you strive to perform your best as well. Everyone is...

What it reported doing in 2024

The association's primary program objectives include: enhancing programs' capability to recruit, select, and retain well qualified pa students through a centralized application service (caspa), supporting programs in the recruitment, selection, development, and retention of well qualified faculty, facilitating the pursuit of dissemination of research and scholarly work, educating physician assistants who will practice evidence- based, patient centered medicine, serving nationally as the definitive voice of matters related to entry level pa education, fostering professionalism and innovation in health professions education, promoting interprofessionalism education and practice, forging linkages with other organizations to advance it's mission.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 96% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.2%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 62.2%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.4%; rating input score 98; 30th 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; 66th 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: 15.5%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.94; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 67th 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: 57.2% of revenue deployed · 62.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $450K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.