Sejong Academy

Legal name: Sejong Academy Charter School No 4215

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461710874
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Paul, MN, US
Phone
(651) 301-8722
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,749,947
Expenses
$6,238,585
Assets
$4,318,574
Liabilities
$6,231,397

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Brad Tipka (Executive Director/Ex-Officio)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brad Tipka (Executive Director/Ex-Officio): $136,820 total reported compensation
  • Hoonseok Oh (Member/Teacher): $78,256 total reported compensation
  • Hyein Lee (Member/Teacher (Beg 6.11.25)): $60,400 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sejong Academy is a tuition-free Korean immersion charter school in Saint Paul, MN, serving students from Pre-K through 12th grade. The school offers a Korean immersion program in lower school and an International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program (grades 7-10) and Career-related Program (grades 11-12) in upper school. It aims to create global citizens aware of diversity in cultures, gaining critical thinking skills, and an elite education through a Korean immersion program.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sejong Academy served approximately 317 students from grades Pre-K through 12 for the 2024-2025 school year. In 2025, Sejong Academy was excited to move to its new facility.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 98% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 59
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 28.6%; rating input score 29; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: 19.5%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.44; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th 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: 82% of revenue deployed · 86.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $137K · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $582K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.