Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 251891805
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2014
- Forms available
- Form 990 2014
- Location
- Harrisburg, PA, USA
- Phone
- 7177202023
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $430,660
- Expenses
- $797,788
- Assets
- $265,531
- Liabilities
- $23,734
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- James Preston (President/CEO/Director)
Highest reported compensation
- James Preston (President/CEO/Director): $383,087 total reported compensation
- Timothy A Guenther (Treasurer): $276,164 total reported compensation
- Nathan Hench (Secretary): $196,554 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The corporation is incorporated under the nonprofit corporation law of 1988 of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to receive and accept donations to be administered permanently and exclusively for charitable purposes, including but not limited to activities intended to improve or enhance post-secondary educational opportunities for students in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
What it reported doing in 2014
The foundation has fulfilled its purposes by assisting students in meeting their expenses of higher education by providing assistance in the form of grants, loans, or scholarships. It has also enabled educational institutions that offer postsecondary programs and lenders to make loans or other financial assistance available to students and parents for postsecondary educational purposes. The foundation is currently in the process of winding up its affairs. It is the intention of the foundation to provide grant awards for as long as funds remain available to do so.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 68
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 96.6%; rating input score 97
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -85.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 200% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -23.3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $771K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $383K · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2010 to 2014
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.