Wgu Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
852768979
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Phone
8882108880
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,297,273
Expenses
$16,232,878
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chris Lee (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Scott Pulsipher (Director): $2,268,117 total reported compensation
  • Chris Lee (President): $474,676 total reported compensation
  • Curt Defriez (Treasurer): $316,207 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Support the educational and charitable purposes of educational entities by engaging in research and development and offering programs and courses to improve readiness for and success in postsecondary education.

What it reported doing in 2023

WGU Academy (Academy) began operations as a separate entity In January 2021. After building and launching its own learning platform in FY23, Academy created and launched 15 individual general education "onramp" courses to prepare students for academic success in credential programs, and 8 new certificate programs to prepare students for entry-level roles in high-demand jobs like business leadership, front-end web development, and digital marketing. These programs grew to serve over 9,000 students in FY23 and over 15,000 students in FY24.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 65% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.5%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 86.9%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $86.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.5% of revenue deployed · 86.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 2 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $14.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.3M · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.