The American College of Financial Services
Legal name: The American College
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 231352008
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- King of Prussia, PA, USA
- Phone
- 6105261000
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Graduate, Professional Schools (Separate Entities)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $38,659,573
- Expenses
- $44,554,114
- Assets
- $87,798,860
- Liabilities
- $27,694,611
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
36 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- George Nichols (President & CEO)
- Todd Schoon (EVP & Senior Advisor to the President)
Highest reported compensation
- George Nichols (President & CEO): $1,121,459 total reported compensation
- Gwendolyn Hall (EVP - Provost): $524,435 total reported compensation
- David Stoeffel (SVP - Business Development): $497,242 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Support your professional growth by partnering on impact initiatives and philanthropic goals through The American College of Financial Services’ online professional designations and learning programs. Learn how we can support your company’s growth Support Our Mission Partner on impact initiatives to benefit society. Support Our Mission Partner on impact initiatives to benefit society Visit Centers of Excellence. Single courses in the FSCP® Program are only $695 each. To complete the full program, complete five courses (three required, two electives of your choice). Eligible courses include: FP 99 Foundations of Financial Planning (REQUIRED) — Provides an overview of the major planning areas that financial professionals need to understand when serving clients. FA 200 Techniques for Prospecting: Prospect or Perish (REQUIRED) — Teaches advisors industry-proven methods for successfully...
What it reported doing in 2024
The 'Non Credit Designations' category includes the new Tax Planning Certified Professional (TPCP) and the Financial Services Certified Professional Program. The TPCP opened for enrollment in 2024 and provides financial professionals with comprehensive tax planning training. The Financial Services Certified Professional (FSCP) Program administers the curriculum leading to the FSCP professional designation. There are approximately 2,300 students enrolled in these programs.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 28
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.3%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 74.2%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- 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: -15.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.97; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.4%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 86.3% of revenue deployed · 74.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $33.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 36 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $646K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 16 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.