SCI-Arc
Legal name: Southern California Institute of Architecture
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 952789388
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, US
- Phone
- 213.613.2200
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Higher Education Institutions
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $30,922,926
- Expenses
- $31,985,680
- Assets
- $93,908,801
- Liabilities
- $20,371,726
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
33 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HERNAN DIAZ ALONSO (DIRECTOR/CEO/INSTRUCTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- HERNAN DIAZ ALONSO (DIRECTOR/CEO/INSTRUCTOR): $603,799 total reported compensation
- ELENA MANFERDINI (GRADUATE PROGRAM CHAIR / INSTRUCTOR): $332,053 total reported compensation
- JOHN ENRIGHT VICE-DIR (CHIEF ACADEMIC OFF./ INSTRUCTOR): $325,942 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
SCI-Arc is dedicated to educating architects who will imagine and shape the future of the built environment through speculative design, experimentation, and the integration of advanced technologies.
What it reported doing in 2024
The southern California institute of architecture is a fully accredited school for architecture offering bachelor and masters degrees. The enrollment for the institution ranges between 400 and 450 students.
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 66% for direct work, and 34% 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: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 77
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.7%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 74.7%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd 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: -3.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.94; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 75.7% of revenue deployed · 74.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $23.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $604K · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.1M reported
- Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
- Schedules: 13 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: 15 filed money-flow records
- 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 26/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.