Prescott College Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860294012
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Prescott, AZ, USA
Phone
9283504010
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,208,970
Expenses
$21,280,640
Assets
$31,135,641
Liabilities
$9,658,257

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BARBARA MORRIS (PRESIDENT)
  • MICHELE PETERSON (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BARBARA MORRIS (PRESIDENT): $285,816 total reported compensation
  • MICHELE PETERSON (VICE PRESIDENT): $156,187 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE RELYEA (DEAN OF STUDENT AFFAIRS): $133,208 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Together, we create interdisciplinary, experiential, and diverse learning environments that inspire future leaders to develop a healthy, just and sustainable world. We value our inclusive community, experiential and field-based learning, a culture of creativity, justice, individualized education, and regenerative sustainability. Prescott college provides experiential and collaborative education, creating opportunities for students to effect positive change in education, environment, and society.

What it reported doing in 2024

Undergraduate programson-campus: prescott college offers experience-based bachelor of arts degrees focused on justice, the environment, adventure education, and the human experience within a liberal arts curriculum. Undergraduate - on-line: prescott college offers an online yet experience-based bachelor of arts degree in psychology.in 2022 prescott college earned a stars silver rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education (aashe). Stars, the sustainability tracking, assessment & rating system measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. Prescott college has also been recognized by us news and world report in 2022 as a top performer for social mobility. In 2024 prescott college was recognized by forbes as one of the best master's of mental health counseling online.in 2024 prescott college was recognized by forbes as one of the best online colleges in Arizona.in 2024 prescott college was recognized by leading colleges for student outcomes: demonstrating the value of a college degree.for 2025 prescott college was recognized by the princeton review guide to green colleges, ranking in the top 19% of colleges.fall 2024 full-time equivalents - 109

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 83% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 76.5%; rating input score 76; 14th 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: -5.3%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.46; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.7% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $17.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $286K · 25 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $748K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.