Georgia · Nonprofit
Cognia Inc
Cognia Inc (Georgia) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,225,000 to it, the largest being CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK ($900,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $140M
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $53M
What Cognia Inc does
Mission
Cognia, inc is dedicated to leading and empowering the education community to ensure that all learners realize their full potential while creating a world of opportunities for every learner. We drive excellence in education through continuous improvement services, assessment, accreditation, research, innovation policy and technology.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Cognia, Inc. develops and applies research-based accreditation and school improvement standards, processes, procedures, expertise, and tools that cross state, regional, and international boundaries to effect continuous school improvement through ongoing external checks, support, and feedback. It currently serves as a trusted partner to nearly 36,000 schools and school systems-employing more than five million educators and enrolling over 20 million students-across the United States and 84 other countries.
$46,785,385 spent$50,343,575 earned by the program44% of program spendingCognia provides large-scale, special population and targeted educational assessment services and products to various state and local educational systems in the United States.
$59,872,905 spent$83,658,203 earned by the program56% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $106,658,290.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $43M to $98M (+129%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 8% · 2021 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
1% of Cognia Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Dr Mark A Elgart
President/CEO
Board chair
Ms Karen Cowe
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income held at $100k.
From the IRS filings of Cognia Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Cognia Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
Cognia Inc draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Georgia, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Cognia Inc has grown faster than three-quarters of the 679 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 679 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding Cognia Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $228.3M on record — $13.0M federal, $215.3M state.
- Department of the Interior$6.5M
- Department of Defense$6.5M
- MA$203.0M
- VT$12.2M
- DE$1k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Cognia Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Georgia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 9 states
Part of a family of 10 related entities
- Southern Association of Colleges and Sch · exempt
- Sacs Council on Accreditation and School · exempt
- The Commission on Accreditation and Scho · exempt
- Southern Association of Colleges and Sch · exempt
- Career and Technical Education Consortiu · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Cognia Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Cognia Inc?
- Cognia Inc (Georgia) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,225,000 to it, the largest being CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK ($900,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Cognia Inc have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $1,225,000 in grants to Cognia Inc, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Cognia Inc?
- CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK is the largest funder on record, with $900,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Cognia Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Georgia. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Cognia →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 2 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing