SBA 504 Charter School Feasibility Study in California

California leads the nation, with a coding caveat

In school lending under 504, California holds rank 1 by loan count, and that is the feature this page rests on. Fifty-six loans in the school class, which includes charter schools, total $91.0 million. The midpoint of $1.4 million is 1.21x what a school loan under 504 costs nationwide at the midpoint, and the middle half runs from $796,000 to $2.1 million. In California's own mix the class is 16 of 39. Franchised share: 0.00%.

What the class can and cannot show

Charter schools cannot be separated from other elementary and secondary schools in SBA's coding, since they share an industry code with private schools. Charter operators are mostly nonprofit, a status SBA will not finance, so the loans counted are for-profit schools and operators, a narrower population than the charter sector. Read this page as a record of privately owned school facilities, not a measure of charter finance in California.

Development companies and counties

California Statewide Certified Development Corporation: 11 loans, $16.3 million. CDC Small Business Finance Corp.: 10 loans, $15.7 million. The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation: 8 loans, $16.6 million. Business Finance Capital: 7 loans, $14.0 million, with the same count for Capital Access Group, Inc. at $13.4 million. These are holders per SBA today. Los Angeles County has 19 loans, San Diego 8, Riverside and San Mateo 5 each.

Outcome floors

Cancellation reaches at least 16.3% of FY2017 to FY2024 California school approvals, rising to a ceiling of 18.6% with undisbursed loans counted. These are high for 504 and reflect how long a school project can run through zoning, licensing and construction. The loss side stays unpublished for California schools: too few loans funded to meet SBA's cohort floor, so a reader should not fill the gap with zero.

What a school study must test

A school study begins with enrollment, the only revenue driver. Show the school-age population in the attendance area, the seats at nearby public, charter and private schools, and tuition or per-pupil funding evidence behind the model. Since loans run into the millions, price the facility: purchase or construction, tenant improvements to meet code for school occupancy, and the approval schedule. Test coverage at partial enrollment, since schools open below capacity. A special-purpose school building can be hard to appraise, so state conversion options and what an alternate user might pay.