University Center of Lake County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364426554
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Grayslake, IL, USA
Phone
8476654000
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,416,533
Expenses
$4,199,043
Assets
$7,879,093
Liabilities
$1,811,491

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • C Myra Gaytan-Morales (Executive Director and Dean)

Highest reported compensation

  • C Myra Gaytan-Morales (Executive Director and Dean): $127,569 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The university center of lake county provides facilities and support services for its member colleges and universities in delivering higher education programs to lake county students.

What it reported doing in 2024

Facilities and support provided to 14 member organizations consisting of public and private institutions of higher education. These member organizations deliver over 130 degree options and a variety of certificate programs. Student enrollments exceeded 2000 semester hours, mostly on a part time basis. Students live and/or work in lakecounty Illinois and consist of working adults, recent junior college graduates, adults pursuing advanced degrees and non-traditional students returning to school. The university center administers and facilitates the educational services provided by the member institutions to the students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 78% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $140.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.88; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.9% of revenue deployed · 83.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.