Sierra Nevada College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
880121831
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Incline Village, NV, USA
Phone
7756828464
Rating
49
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,153
Expenses
$12,944
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Susan Johnson (President)

People named in this filing

  • Vic Redding (Secretary)
  • Andrew Clinger (Treasurer)
  • Brian Sandoval (Trustee)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Sierra Nevada College's mission is to combine the liberal arts and professional preparedness through an interdisciplinary curriculum which emphasizes entrepreneurial thinking and environmental, social, economic, and educational sustainability to produce graduates who will be scholars of and contributors to a sustainable world.

What it reported doing in 2025

On July 7, 2021, the Board of Trustees of the University approved a proposed transaction allowing Sierra Nevada University to become part of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Under the proposed transaction, the University Incline campus would become part of UNR and University programs and operations would be gradually merged with those of UNR. The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Board of Regents approved this proposed transaction on July 23, 2021. Effective July 1, 2022, the assets and related liabilities were assigned to the UNR, except for the beneficial interest in assets held by a community foundation and the investment accounts, which were transferred to the UNR Foundation.The SNU Board of Trustees continue to work with UNR Foundation and UNR to properly transfer the following remaining assets: Sardella Reserve Fund Cash Land CoverageBoth of these transactions are complex in nature and taking additional time. Upon the successful transfer of the remaining assets, the SNU Board of Trustees, by written consent, with dissolve the corporation. The final transfer of assets occurred in January 2026.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 15
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 19.4%; rating input score 19
  • Program expense ratio: 12.2%; rating input score 12
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -58.8%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15.5% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.2% per year; rating input score 0; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.7% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 19.4% of revenue deployed · 12.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 12 of 12 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 17 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 19/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.