Thomas Aquinas College
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 941698615
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Santa Paula, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8055254417
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Undergraduate College (4-year)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $39,131,799
- Expenses
- $42,636,973
- Assets
- $143,305,536
- Liabilities
- $20,285,059
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
31 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PAUL O'REILLY (PRESIDENT, BOARD MEMBER)
- JOHN GOYETTE (VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT,TUTOR, BOARD MEMBER)
- MICHAEL MCLEAN (VICE PRESIDENT, TUTOR, BOARD MEMBER)
- CHRISTOPHER WEINKOPF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COLL)
- MARK KRETSCHMER (VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS)
Highest reported compensation
- JESSE JOHN BAER (TUTOR): $204,389 total reported compensation
- JON DALY (DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS): $201,183 total reported compensation
- CHRISTOPHER WEINKOPF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COLL): $198,939 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Thomas aquinas college is an institution that has faithfully pursued, articulated and defended a single, well-defined mission throughout its 52 years of existence. That mission is stated well in its self-study: to provide for the "liberal education of students according to the natural power of reason by the light of the catholic faith."
What it reported doing in 2024
Educational activities
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 69
- Accountability: 68
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- 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: 69.2%; rating input score 69; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.36; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 94% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 26 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $36.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $204K · 31 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $644K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 14 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.