School of American Ballet

Legal name: School of American Ballet Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131275970
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
212-769-6611
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Performing Arts Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,285,155
Expenses
$19,760,711
Assets
$113,355,622
Liabilities
$13,140,749

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

Leadership & pay

55 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CARRIE W HINRICHS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARRIE W HINRICHS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $441,370 total reported compensation
  • KATRINA K KILLIAN (DIR CHILDREN'S PREP DIV): $321,544 total reported compensation
  • KAY MAZZO BELLAS (TEACHER): $244,085 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To ensure that the most talented ballet students in the nation and throughout the world have access to the highest level of training, needed scholarship support, state-of-the-art facilities, and unparalleled student services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Teaching and other artistic programsthe school provides ballet training for students ages 6 to 19, at appropriate levels of concentration. During the winter term (september - june), advanced students have 37 weeks of classes with up to 23.5 hours per week. The youngest students meet twice weekly for an hour for 36 weeks. During fy 2025, 534 students were enrolled during the winter term. They represented 26 states and 5 foreign countries. Winter term curriculum also includes additional opportunities, particularly for advanced students, such as choreographic workshop and year end performance. The school also offers a 5-week intensive summer course. 226 students took part in the summer course during fy 2025. Fy 2025 also saw the eighth year of a one-week New York junior session that enrolled 151 students.the school provided $1,296mil in tuition scholarships and awards during fy25. For winter term, 36% of students received tuition financial aid. For the summer course, 34% of students were awarded tuition scholarships. In the New York junior program, 26% of students received tuition scholarships.the school extends its program efforts in the New York metropolitan area by conducting community lectures/demonstrations and community auditions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99%; rating input score 99; 31st 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: 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: 15.1%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.74; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 73.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 43 of 43 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $14.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $441K · 55 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $742K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.