Southwestern College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850271348
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Fe, NM, USA
Phone
5054715756
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,533,980
Expenses
$5,842,784
Assets
$7,677,996
Liabilities
$836,017

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANN FILEMYR (FORMER PRESIDENT OF COLLEGE)
  • KATHERINE NINOS (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
  • VIRGINIA PADILLA-VIGIL (VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS)
  • THOMAS CHESNEY (PRESIDENT OF COLLEGE)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANN FILEMYR (FORMER PRESIDENT OF COLLEGE): $194,960 total reported compensation
  • KATHERINE NINOS (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $178,490 total reported compensation
  • VIRGINIA PADILLA-VIGIL (VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $139,896 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Southwestern colleges mission is to transform consciousness through education. Since 1976, it has been dedicated to fostering consciousness and transformation. Its programs provide a holistic learning perspective in the fields of behavioral health, leadership, and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Southwestern college is a private, not-for-profit institution of higher education that offers master of arts degrees in counseling, art therapy/counseling, art therapy for clinical professionals, and consciousness in action. Additionally, it offers a phd in visionary practice and regenerative leadership. All degree programs are fully accredited by the higher learning commission. The college also provides seven certificate programs: addiction, abuse, & recovery; applied interpersonal neurobiology; childrens mental health; ecotherapy; human sexuality; psychedelic studies; and trauma, grief & renewal.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.2%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 10.6%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.31; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.2% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $195K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.