Sitting Bull College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237373765
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Fort Yates, ND, USA
Phone
7018548000
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,172,134
Expenses
$13,576,069
Assets
$46,225,409
Liabilities
$6,592,878

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KOREEN RESSLER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TOMI KAY PHILLIPS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KOREEN RESSLER (VICE PRESIDENT): $137,196 total reported compensation
  • DAVE MUELLER (IT/FINANCE DIRECTOR): $124,446 total reported compensation
  • TOMI KAY PHILLIPS (PRESIDENT): $110,516 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Guided by ochethi sakowin culture, values, and language, sitting bull college is committed to building intellectual capital through academic, career and technical education, and promoting economic and social development.

What it reported doing in 2024

The major purpose of sitting bull college's (sbc) native american career & technical education program (nactep) is to provide training in 1) nursing, 2) criminal justice/lay advocate, 3) information technology, 4) electrical, and 5) cdl/heavy equipment. For fall 2024 enrollment was 85 students (19 new and 66 returning). 29 in nursing, 9 new and 20 returning, 26 females, 3 males; 26 in criminal justice, 12 at the associate and 14 at the bachelor's level, 3 new and 23 returning, 6 males, 21 females; 17 in information technology/cybersecurity, 12 at the associate and 5 at the bachelor's level, 2 new and 15 returning, 7 males, 10 females; 9 in electrical, 5 new and 4 returning, all males; and cdl not offering this semester due to lack of faculty. For spring 25, 2 transfers and 62 returning, 22 in nursing, twenty returning, two transfers, 21 females, 1 males; 23 in criminal justice, 12 at the associate and 11 at the bachelor's level, all returning, 5 males, 16 females; 11 in information technology/cybersecurity, 7 at the associate and 4 at the bachelor's level, all returning, 8 males, 3 females; 8 in electrical, all returning, all males; and cdl not offering this semester due to lack of faculty. The associates in business administration graduated three students during the 2024-2025 academic year. There were twenty-two students enrolled in the fall 2024 semester and twenty three students enrolled in the spring 2025 semester.two students will graduate with a bachelors in business administration for the 2024-2025 academic year. Twelve students were enrolled in the bachelors program during the fall 2024 semester and ten during the spring 2025 semester. The associate & bachelor of science in general studies program had ten graduate for the 2024-2025 academic year. Fa-24 and sp-25 there were 57 students enrolled in the degree programs, (may be duplicated). Advisors try to counsel students to other bachelor's programs since a general studies degree does not align with the job market but allows students to easily transition to graduate studies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 - 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.8%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91.2%; rating input score 91; 21st 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: 25.3%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.4; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.8% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $137K · 14 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $3.9M reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 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.

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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.