Warrior-scholar Project Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452745669
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
2029773896
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,435,921
Expenses
$4,692,221
Assets
$15,906,682
Liabilities
$72,694

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RYAN PAVEL (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • RYAN PAVEL (CEO): $219,842 total reported compensation
  • TIFFANY ARMSTRONG (CHIEF DEVELO): $172,589 total reported compensation
  • LENAYA HEZEL (CHIEF PROGRA): $150,904 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To propel enlisted veterans and service members towards success in higher education and beyond through transformative programming that advances skills, builds confidence, and forges lasting connections.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, warrior-scholar project collaborated with 23 higher education partners to provide college preparatory in-person and virtual academic boot camps and one-day community college workshops to transitioning service members and veterans. Boot camp programming served 300 veterans, 83 veterans were served through college success workshops, and 29 veterans in the on-demand curriculum that was piloted at the end of 2025. Warrior- scholar project operated 31 weeks of academic boot camp programming, 28 weeks in the summer, and 3 weeks of virtual programming, as well as 7 single-day college success workshops in partnership with community colleges. Warrior-scholar project's mission is to ensure that every degree-seeking enlisted veteran succeeds in their pursuit of higher education. Since its founding in 2011, more than 2,800 student veterans have participated in a wsp academic boot camp, its flagship program, and over 80% of program alumni have earned or are on track to earn a college degree. The immersive college preparatory experience, hosted in partnership with leading universities nationwide, helps veterans prepare for the cultural transition from the military to academia. More than boot camps, wsp also offers programs to address the unique needs of student veterans, including integrated programming for underrepresented veterans, graduate school, and career field exploration. Recognizing the value wsp brings to veterans, the dept. Of veterans affairs collaborates with wsp to help student veterans access information about wsp's free programming.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 74.7%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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 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: -5.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.39; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 74.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $220K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.