South Texas College of Law Houston

Legal name: South Texas College of Law Houston Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
741554976
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Houston, Texas, United States
Phone
(713) 659-8040
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Graduate, Professional Schools (Separate Entities)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$51,392,246
Expenses
$52,703,609
Assets
$122,203,942
Liabilities
$15,541,095

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

Leadership & pay

60 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHAWANA CARTER BARNETT (ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL F BARRY (PROFESSOR OF LAW): $377,073 total reported compensation
  • CATHERINE BURNETT (VP ASSOC. DEAN & PROF. OF LAW): $342,070 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY RENSBERGER (INTERIM DEAN): $340,819 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

South Texas college of law houston provides a diverse body of students the opportunity to obtain an exceptional legal education, preparing graduates to serve their community and profession with distinction.

What it reported doing in 2024

Professional education: provided legal instruction to approximately 1,000 full and part time students, conferred nearly 300 doctor of jurisprudence degrees. Provided access to almost 600,000 library volume equivalents to student and the practicing community. Held various other programs of interest to the public and practicing attorneys. Located in the heart of the nation's fourth largest city, south Texas college of law houston is a private, independent institution that has earned a reputation for providing students an exceptional, relevant, practical legal education that fully prepares them for a career in the profession.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.
  • 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 73.8%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.2%; rating input score 96; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -2.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.32; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 75.9% of revenue deployed · 73.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 26 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $38.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $377K · 60 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.7M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 35 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.