Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC
HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,564,316 to it, the largest being Lumina Foundation for Education Inc ($3,060,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $919k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $7.6M
- Net assets
- $487k
What Higher Learning Advocates Inc does
Mission
To educate the public about the importance of increased postsecondary attainment and a postsecondary system that is student-centered, equitable, outcomes-based, and quality driven and the need to increase access to, and affordability of, postsecondary education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
The organization ceased conducting the campaign program during fy25.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Communications: through media and public engagement, today's student coalition works to build support for reforming the nation's postsecondary education policies and elevate new perspectives through elevating a diverse set of voices.
$265,817 spent43% of program spendingToday's students coalition: to educate the public about the importance of increased postsecondary attainment and a postsecondary system that is learner-centered, supports all learners, including those historically underserved, outcomes-based, and quality driven and the need to increase access to, and affordability of, postsecondary education.
$184,106 spent30% of program spendingPolicy and advocacy: today's student coalition conducts rigorous policy analysis, provides expert testimony, and educates policymakers on key issues related to its mission.
$98,579 spent$28,000 earned by the program16% of program spendingGovernment relations: today's student coalition educates and informs bipartisan policymakers on issues related to the organization's mission, including who today's students are.
$64,132 spent10% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $612,634.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2019 to 2020, from $3.7M to $2.1M (−42%).
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: 2021 27% · 2022 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 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
Tanya Ang - Managing Dir
Then exec. Dir. (transition 6/1/24)
Board chair
Chris Bustamante
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $249k → $1.8M.
From the IRS filings of HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES 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
HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 70% · 2019 100% · 2020 86% · 2021 47% · 2022 45% · 2023 41% — diversifying over time.
“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.
How long its funders stay
20% of HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 10 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
HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
25%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES 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 HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC?
- HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,564,316 to it, the largest being Lumina Foundation for Education Inc ($3,060,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $7,564,316 in grants to HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC?
- Lumina Foundation for Education Inc is the largest funder on record, with $3,060,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 Higher Learning Advocates →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 12 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