Southwestern Law School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951246140
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Phone
213-738-6700
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$71,187,787
Expenses
$67,395,011
Assets
$147,987,058
Liabilities
$30,199,233

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

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANGELA D DICKERSON (PRESIDENT & DEAN)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANGELA D DICKERSON (PRESIDENT & DEAN): $576,140 total reported compensation
  • JULIE K XANDERS (GENERAL COUNSEL/CORPORATE SECRETARY): $339,233 total reported compensation
  • ANDREA G FREEMAN (FACULTY): $312,911 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 Law School is a private, independent law school in Los Angeles, California, offering a range of J.D. and LL.M. programs. Its mission is to provide a rigorous legal education that prepares students for leadership and service in the legal profession.

What it reported doing in 2024

The law school welcomes students from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences and strives to make a comprehensive legal education accessible to all qualified applicants while fostering inclusive representation in the legal profession. The law school accomplishes this goal in part by offering multiple courses of study leading to the juris doctor degree: (1) a fully online asynchronous curriculum in both full-time and part-time options;(2) a three-year, full-time day program; (3) a two-year, accelerated full-time day program;(4) a four year, part-time day program for students with child-care, elder-care, or other care-giving responsibilities;(5) a four-year, part-time day program; and(6) a four-year, part-time hybrid evening program.the law school also offers courses of study leading to either a masters in general law or masters of law in entertainment and media law. The law school offers a concurrent j.d./m.b.a. Program with the drucker school of management at claremont graduate university. The law school sponsors a foreign summer abroad law program as part of the j.d. Degree.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 91% 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 61% for direct work, and 39% 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: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 76.7%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st 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: 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; 77th 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; 77th 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: 5.3%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.2; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 26th 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: 71.3% of revenue deployed · 76.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 26 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $51.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $576K · 39 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.6M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 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: 12 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.