Urban College Of Boston

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043403049
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6174497070
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Higher Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,686,850
Expenses
$7,145,642
Assets
$8,527,897
Liabilities
$2,705,232

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Yves Salomon - Fernandez (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Yves Salomon - Fernandez (President): $331,775 total reported compensation
  • Chitra Javdekar (V.P. Of Academic Affairs): $172,690 total reported compensation
  • Anna Berry (VP Of Student Success): $172,690 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Private two year college serving primarily lower income individuals from the greater boston area.

What it reported doing in 2024

Urban college of boston (ucb) is an independent co-educational two year higher education institution located in the heart of downtown boston. Ucb provides inner-city residents who might otherwise never go to college with the opportunity to achieve education credentials and skills tied to upwardly mobile careers. The college offers associate degrees in human service administration, education and general studies.

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 96% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.9%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 68.9%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.9% of revenue deployed · 68.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $332K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $182K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.