Massachusetts · Nonprofit
POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION
POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION (Massachusetts) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,827,650 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($2,625,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.1M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $6.8M
- Net assets
- $3.0M
What Postsecondary Commission does
Mission
The Postsecondary Commission is an accreditor of institutions of higher education that provide strong economic outcomes to their students.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
In 2024, the Postsecondary Commission undertook programmatic work in three areas: accreditation-field work, accreditation-model and petition development, and research and evaluation. In the prior year, psc's field work with institutions seeking accreditation as well as the work on developing its accreditation model were combined into one program area called accreditation. In 2024, we separated those bodies of work into two - accreditation-field work and accreditation-model and petition development. Research and evaluation, in 2024, included new work for psc - partnering with states to evaluate the economic returns of programs and degrees across their institutions. Specific accomplishments for each of these programs follow.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Accreditation-field work - this body of work encompasses direct partnerships with institutions and the application of psc's accreditation model. In 2024, psc onboarded two institutional partners to complete psc's accreditation process. As part of that work, psc hosted three institutional workshops and an estimated 50+ consultation meetings between psc staff and institutional representatives. Staff created or modified an estimated 100+ institution-specific documents to facilitate the institutions through the application process and to prepare for or implement the self-study process (a key component of accreditation). Accreditation-model and petition development - building on its work in 2023 to develop and release its initial accreditation standards, policies, and procedures, psc continued to create new materials that expand its accreditation model. The organization released for public comment and considered feedback on its accreditation standards once in 2024. To support its accreditation field work, staff created 30+ new materials (e.g., templates, worksheets), which are now in use with institutions. Psc also reviewed its policies and procedures and made updates to ~60% of these…
$1,677,154 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,677,154.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2022 to 2023, from $236k to $2.3M (+876%).
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.
100% of POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $1.0M → $3.2M.
5 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION’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
POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
78% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 30% — 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.
Where its funders are
78% of POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.5M that is directly attributable, 59% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 4 states.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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
POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION: 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 POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION?
- POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION (Massachusetts) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,827,650 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($2,625,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $6,827,650 in grants to POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $2,625,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like POSTSECONDARY COMMISSION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Postsecondary Commission →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 10 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