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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Strategic Education International

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 824871189
VA · NTEE B60
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Susan Bryant Phd, Executive Director / CEO ($194,240) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 145 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 98th percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Susan Bryant Phd — reported title “Executive Director”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

145 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 145 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,086 total compensation of comparable organizations → $264,160 $194,240
$16,78310th
$41,54025th
$66,950Median
$91,06275th
$130,45690th
$194,240This org · 98th
p10$16,783
p25$41,540
p50$66,950
p75$91,062
p90$130,456
$194,240

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to VA cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Texas Choral Directors Association TX$419,703 Executive Di $97,978 $98,594 2024
Literacy Network Of South Berkshire Inc MA$419,592 Executive Director $100,534 $90,881 2024
Voca Center Inc NY$421,632 Director/president $126,710 $115,183 2024
Financial Health Institute Npo CO$416,846 Founding Dir $24,000 $23,150 2024
Professional Psych Seminars CA$412,099 Pres & Director $51,900 $43,922 2025
Texas Apartment Association Education TX$412,003 Ceo $50,298 $50,614 2024
Why Not Win Institute Inc AL$411,158 Former - Ed $85,000 $92,377 2024
Write Around Portland OR$409,223 Executive Di $79,507 $76,469 2023
Maker Works Community Workshops MI$431,266 Executive Di $19,392 $20,136 2024
Economic Growth Business Incubator TX$406,170 Executive Director $93,588 $94,176 2024
Florida Emergency Medicine Foundation FL$406,010 Former Ceo & Executive Director $27,692 $26,943 2023
Maimonides Heritage Center Ltd NY$435,255 Founder & Dean $65,000 $59,086 2024
Nccpa Health Foundation Inc GA$435,893 President And Ceo, Nccpa $93,946 $95,026 2024
Heartland Institute Of Financial Education CO$402,262 Former Director $51,498 $51,142 2023
Olami Arizona Inc AZ$402,105 Brumer $70,833 $68,529 2024
Women's Rural Entrepreneurial NH$399,440 Executive Di $55,523 $50,245 2025
Calcpa Institute CA$398,027 President And Ceo $16,587 $14,408 2024
Massachusetts Center For The Book Inc MA$444,618 Executive Director $88,250 $77,720 2025
American Association Of Public Health NY$388,966 Executive Director $15,000 $13,636 2024
Western Montana Professional Learning MT$450,600 Co-director $17,883 $19,965 2023
Des-cpr Inc PA$451,312 Executive Director $60,515 $60,708 2024
Friends Of The Castle Inc OH$386,386 Executive Director $57,976 $63,597 2023
Southern California Regional Transit CA$455,596 Executive Dir. $163,500 $142,025 2024
Molokai Homestead Farmers Alliance HI$383,519 President $3,150 $2,837 2024
The Workwell Partnership NJ$455,944 Executive Dir. $46,250 $41,540 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VA cost of living and 2023 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to VA cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default98th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)98th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted83rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted94th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Susan Bryant Phd) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 145 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B60), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $194,240 is reasonable (approximately the 98th percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.