The University of the Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
231639911
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2157176000
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$100,269,395
Expenses
$106,360,536
Assets
$189,268,492
Liabilities
$65,833,353

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID YAGER (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • PAULA MARINCOLA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PCAH)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID YAGER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $711,837 total reported compensation
  • STEPHEN LIGHTCAP EDD (VP OF FINANCE & ADMIN (UNTIL 4/14)): $449,578 total reported compensation
  • PAULA MARINCOLA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PCAH): $357,501 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The arts have the power to transform society. They play an essential role in ensuring and enhancing the quality of life. The university of the arts is committed to advancing human creativity and to inspiring, educating and preparing innovative artists and creative leaders for the arts of the 21st century.

What it reported doing in 2022

Instruction - expenses incurred in providing academic instruction through our innovative curriculum to our 1,300 students, who are enrolled in 37 undergraduate and graduate programs across our six schools (the school of art, school of dance, school of design, school of film, school of music, and the ira brind school of theater arts) and the division of graduate and professional studies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% 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 43% for direct work, and 57% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.9%; rating input score 98; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96%; rating input score 96; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.1%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.78; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83% of revenue deployed · 71.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $75.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $712K · 35 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $12.8M reported
  • Consistency: 44 of 45 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 14 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 76 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 66 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.