Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Nov 2018.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
52 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
24 people listed on the 990; $180K paid to officers and key staff.
David Rice’s $133K as Executive Editor is at the 55th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3395 $1–10M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 5 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Rice | $133,207 | $131,435 | $143,528 | $127,715 | $122,286 | $122,594 |
| Debra Rezeli | — | $77,202 | $97,367 | $86,516 | $82,135 | — |
| Melissa Davis | — | $61,641 | $61,882 | $92,872 | — | — |
| Debra Rezell | — | — | — | — | — | $79,822 |
| Shawnice Meador | $46,831 | — | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Promotes citizen support for higher education, linking education to economic prosperity.
Questions for Higher Ed Works
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Higher Ed Works dba as Public Ed Works continued in 2025 to expand - expand its budget, expand its staff and expand its audience. Thanks to one magnanimous donor in particular but hundreds of other supporters as well, the organization grew its budget to more than $1 million, yet it finished the year with enough funds on hand to support…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $960K | $2.2M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $2K | $6K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $961K | $2.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $0 | $0 |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $961K | $2.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $1K | $1K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $180K | $115K | $11K | $54K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $181K | $116K | $11K | $54K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $15K | $9K | $881 | $4K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $0 | |||
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $29K | $19K | $2K | $9K |
| Management feesLn 11a | $130K | $130K | ||
| Legal feesLn 11b | $54K | $54K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $22K | $22K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $103K | $103K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $54K | $54K | ||
| TravelLn 17 | $21K | $12K | $2K | $7K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $1K | $1K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $7K | $7K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $208K | $201K | $8K | $0 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $3K | $3K | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.0M | $527K | $252K | $231K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $2.3M | $1.0M | $1.3M | $2.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $1.4M | $893K | $464K | $961K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $674K | $618K | $57K | $497K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $654K | $742K | −$87K | $441K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $746K | $672K | $74K | $528K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $808K | $668K | $140K | $454K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $2,286,762 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 21 of 22 board members independent, 2 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,286,762 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,010,316 across 16 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $2,237,855 assets, 9 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $2,237,855 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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