Project on Predatory Student Lending

What it reported doing in 2024

The project on predatory student lending (ppsl) is the leading legal non-profit organization representing students against predatory colleges and lenders. Ppsl's unique model of impact litigation and advocacy delivers results for defrauded students and demands significant accountability and better outcomes for student borrowers in the higher education system.ppsl's landmark legal victories on behalf of more than two million student borrowers across the nation have exposed predatory practices, held the department of education and other institutions accountable to the law, and influenced the direction of higher education policy.ppsl's track record demonstrates the importance of bold, strategic litigation as an intervention in the higher education space. Ppsl ensures that borrowers will be set free from fraudulent student loan debt. Our cases are designed to establish landscape-changing precedent, win meaningful debt cancellation, and organize borrowers as important stakeholders in policy debates about higher education. Ppsl holds the government accountable for failed oversight of the federal student loan program. As borrowers succeed in enforcing their rights under borrower defense, our litigation will continue to focus on holding the department of education accountable for green lighting schools, programs, and practices that shift an unacceptable amount of risk onto students and their families, and taxpayers at large. Ppsl exposes the corruption and fraud that is running up the cost of education in every sector. Ppsl aims to increase the public's understanding that predatory behaviors in education are driving up the costs of education and they exist everywhere from for-profit nursing programs to online master's degrees at brand name colleges. Ppsl promotes economic justice and racial equity. Student loan debt and predatory higher education practices disproportionately affect black borrowers, particularly black women. Ppsl is committed to bringing our most effective tools to bear in order to end predatory inclusion in higher education.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 34%; rating input score 34
• Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
• Fundraising efficiency: $35.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 56.5%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.95; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 50.5% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 55.6% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 66.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings