Vega Collegiate Academy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 472103502
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2014
- Location
- Aurora, CO, US
- Phone
- (720) 390-6975
- Rating
- 60
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $11,395,925
- Expenses
- $12,330,965
- Assets
- $19,284,454
- Liabilities
- $25,125,545
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Kathryn Mullins (Executive Director)
- Guerin Gray (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Kathryn Mullins (Executive Director): $166,819 total reported compensation
- Guerin Gray (Executive Director): $12,433 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Vega Collegiate Academy's mission is to ensure that demographics do not determine destiny, that college is the access point to opportunity, and that character and leadership must be taught.
What it reported doing in 2024
Vega Collegiate Academy is a public charter school with a student count of approximately 576 students for 2024-2025.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 85% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 36
- Transparency & Controls: 66
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 41.9%; rating input score 42
- Program expense ratio: 38.3%; rating input score 38
- 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -8.2%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.56; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.3; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 41.9% of revenue deployed · 38.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $167K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $582K reported
- Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.