Universal Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464392267
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6514423124
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,942,400
Expenses
$13,091,763
Assets
$16,304,079
Liabilities
$12,760,892

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FARHIYA EINTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • FARHIYA EINTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $191,750 total reported compensation
  • RANDA ROUSHDY (SECRETARY): $82,758 total reported compensation
  • MARIANNE MLAMBE (MEMBER): $34,127 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Universal academy will provide success for all students with high quality learning, empowerment and support from a caring and nurturing staff.

What it reported doing in 2024

Universal academy charter school's philosophy is "success for all". We believe that each student can be successful with the appropriate support. Universal academy strives to give each student the individual attention and instruction that they need by collecting and analyzing data each week. Universal academy teachers plan their lessons with small groups that allow them to observe each student's understanding of the lesson daily.universal academy will achieve "success for all" by: *assessing students understanding of the Minnesota state standards that were taught each week with a "friday quiz" *tracking the weekly friday quiz assessments and meeting to discuss student and class progress *using the data from the "trackers" to reteach and retest as well as create small groups that will address specific standards *differentiating lessons and assessments for individual learning styles *using research based programs including "responsive classroom", "teach like a champion", "great habits, great readers", "driven by data", "gradual release", and "response to intervention"

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 67
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -9.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.25; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.78; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.4% of revenue deployed · 87.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $11.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.3M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.