5578 Annual Certification of Racial Nondiscrimination for a P

Form

5578

(Rev. April 2009)
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Annual Certification of Racial Nondiscrimination
for a Private School Exempt From Federal Income Tax
(For use by organizations that do not file Form 990 or Form 990-EZ)

For the period beginning
1a

,

OMB No. 1545-0213

Open to Public
Inspection

For IRS Use Only

and ending

©

,

Name of organization that operates, supervises, and/or controls school(s).

1b Employer identification number

Address (number and street or P.O. box no., if mail is not delivered to street address)

Room/suite

City or town, state, and ZIP + 4 (If foreign address, list city or town, state or province, and country. Include postal code.)

2a

Name of central organization holding group exemption letter covering the school(s). (If same as 1a above, write
“Same” and complete 2c.) If the organization in 1a above holds an individual exemption letter, write “Not Applicable.”

Address (number and street or P.O. box no., if mail is not delivered to street address)

Room/suite

2b Employer identification number

2c Group exemption number (see
instructions under Definitions)

City or town, state, and ZIP + 4 (If foreign address, list city or town, state or province, and country. Include postal code.)
3a

Name of school. (If more than one school, write “See Attached,” and attach a list of the names, complete addresses,
including postal codes, and employer identification numbers of the schools.) If same as 1a above, write “Same.”

3b Employer identification number,
if any

Address (number and street or P.O. box no., if mail is not delivered to street address)

Room/suite

City or town, state, and ZIP + 4 (If foreign address, list city or town, state or province, and country. Include postal code.)

Under penalties of perjury, I hereby certify that I am authorized to take official action on behalf of the above school(s) and that to the best of my knowledge and belief
the school(s) has (have) satisfied the applicable requirements of sections 4.01 through 4.05 of Rev. Proc. 75-50, 1975-2 C.B. 587, for the period covered by this
certification.

(Signature)

General Instructions
Section references are to the Internal Revenue
Code unless otherwise noted.

Note. This form is open to public
inspection.

Purpose of Form
Form 5578 may be used by organizations
that operate tax-exempt private schools to
provide the Internal Revenue Service with
the annual certification of racial
nondiscrimination required by Rev. Proc.
75-50 (the relevant part of which is
reproduced in these instructions).

Who Must File
Every organization that claims exemption
from federal income tax under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and
that operate(s), supervises, or controls a
private school(s) must file a certification of
racial nondiscrimination. If an organization
is required to file Form 990, Return of
Organization Exempt From Income Tax, or
Form 990-EZ, Short Form Return of
Organization Exempt From Income Tax,
either as a separate return or as part of a
group return, the certification must be
made on Schedule E (Form 990
or 990-EZ), Schools, rather than on this
form.

(Type or print name and title.)

An authorized official of a central
organization may file one form to certify for
the school activities of subordinate
organizations that would otherwise be
required to file on an individual basis, but
only if the central organization has enough
control over the schools listed on the form
to ensure that the schools maintain a
racially nondiscriminatory policy as to
students.

Definitions
A racially nondiscriminatory policy as to
students means that the school admits the
students of any race to all the rights,
privileges, programs, and activities
generally accorded or made available to
students at that school and that the school
does not discriminate on the basis of race
in the administration of its educational
policies, admissions policies, scholarship
and loan programs, and other
school-administered programs.
The IRS considers discrimination on the
basis of race to include discrimination on
the basis of color or national or ethnic
origin.
A school is an educational organization
that normally maintains a regular faculty
and curriculum and normally has a
regularly enrolled body of pupils or
students in attendance at the place where
its educational activities are regularly
carried on. The term includes primary,

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 3.

Cat. No. 42658A

(Date)

secondary, preparatory, or high schools
and colleges and universities, whether
operated as a separate legal entity or as
an activity of a church or other
organization described in section 501(c)(3).
The term also includes preschools and any
other organization that is a school as
defined in section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii).
A central organization is an organization
that has one or more subordinates under
its general supervision or control. A
subordinate is a chapter, local, post, or
other unit of a central organization. A
central organization may also be a
subordinate, as in the case of a state
organization that has subordinate units and
is itself affiliated with a national
organization.
The group exemption number (GEN) is a
four-digit number issued to a central
organization by the IRS. It identifies a
central organization that has received a
ruling from the IRS recognizing on a group
basis the exemption from federal income
tax of the central organization and its
covered subordinates.

When To File
Under Rev. Proc. 75-50, a certification of
racial nondiscrimination must be filed
annually by the 15th day of the 5th month
following the end of the organization’s
calendar year or fiscal period.
Form

5578

(Rev. 4-2009)

Form 5578 (Rev. 4-2009)

Where To File
Mail Form 5578 to the Department of the
Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center,
Ogden, UT 84201-0027.

Certification Requirement
Section 4.06 of Rev. Proc. 75-50 requires
an individual authorized to take official
action on behalf of a school that claims to
be racially nondiscriminatory as to
students to certify annually, under
penalties of perjury, that to the best of his
or her knowledge and belief the school has
satisfied the applicable requirements of
sections 4.01 through 4.05 of the revenue
procedure, reproduced below:

Rev. Proc. 75-50
Section 4.01, Organizational
Requirements. A school must include a
statement in its charter, bylaws, or other
governing instrument, or in a resolution of
its governing body, that it has a racially
nondiscriminatory policy as to students
and therefore does not discriminate against
applicants and students on the basis of
race, color, and national or ethnic origin.
Section 4.02, Statement of Policy. Every
school must include a statement of its
racially nondiscriminatory policy as to
students in all its brochures and
catalogues dealing with student
admissions, programs, and scholarships. A
statement substantially similar to the
Notice described in paragraph (a) of
subsection 1 of section 4.03, infra, will be
acceptable for this purpose. Further, every
school must include a reference to its
racially nondiscriminatory policy in other
written advertising that it uses as a means
of informing prospective students of its
programs. The following references will be
acceptable:
The (name) school admits students of
any race, color, and national or ethnic
origin.
Section 4.03, Publicity. The school must
make its racially nondiscriminatory policy
known to all segments of the general
community served by the school.
1. The school must use one of the
following two methods to satisfy this
requirement:
(a) The school may publish a notice of
its racially nondiscriminatory policy in a
newspaper of general circulation that
serves all racial segments of the
community. This publication must be
repeated at least once annually during the
period of the school’s solicitation for
students or, in the absence of a solicitation
program, during the school’s registration
period. Where more than one community is
served by a school, the school may publish
its notice in those newspapers that are
reasonably likely to be read by all racial
segments of the communities that it

Page

serves. The notice must appear in a
section of the newspaper likely to be read
by prospective students and their families
and it must occupy at least three column
inches. It must be captioned in at least 12
point boldface type as a notice of
nondiscriminatory policy as to students,
and its text must be printed in at least 8
point type. The following notice will be
acceptable:

Notice Of Nondiscriminatory
Policy As To Students
The (name) school admits students of any
race, color, national and ethnic origin to all
the rights, privileges, programs, and
activities generally accorded or made
available to students at the school. It does
not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national and ethnic origin in administration
of its educational policies, admissions
policies, scholarship and loan programs,
and athletic and other school-administered
programs.
(b) The school may use the broadcast
media to publicize its racially
nondiscriminatory policy if this use makes
such nondiscriminatory policy known to all
segments of the general community the
school serves. If this method is chosen,
the school must provide documentation
that the means by which this policy was
communicated to all segments of the
general community was reasonably
expected to be effective. In this case,
appropriate documentation would include
copies of the tapes or script used and
records showing that there was an
adequate number of announcements, that
they were made during hours when the
announcements were likely to be
communicated to all segments of the
general community, that they were of
sufficient duration to convey the message
clearly, and that they were broadcast on
radio or television stations likely to be
listened to by substantial numbers of
members of all racial segments of the
general community. Announcements must
be made during the period of the school’s
solicitation for students or, in the absence
of a solicitation program, during the
school’s registration period.
Communication of a racially
nondiscriminatory policy as to students by
a school to leaders of racial groups as the
sole means of publicity generally will not
be considered effective to make the policy
known to all segments of the community.
2. The requirements of subsection 1 of
this section will not apply when one of the
following paragraphs applies:
(a) If for the preceding 3 years the
enrollment of a parochial or other
church-related school consists of students
at least 75% of whom are members of the
sponsoring religious denomination or unit,
the school may make known its racially

2

nondiscriminatory policy in whatever
newspapers or circulars the religious
denomination or unit utilizes in the
communities from which the students are
drawn. These newspapers and circulars
may be those distributed by a particular
religious denomination or unit or by an
association that represents a number of
religious organizations of the same
denomination. If, however, the school
advertises in newspapers of general
circulation in the community or
communities from which its students are
drawn and paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
subsection are not applicable to it, then it
must comply with paragraph (a) of
subsection 1 of this section.
(b) If a school customarily draws a
substantial percentage of its students
nationwide or world-wide or from a large
geographic section or sections of the
United States and follows a racially
nondiscriminatory policy as to students,
the publicity requirement may be satisfied
by complying with section 4.02, supra.
Such a school may demonstrate that it
follows a racially nondiscriminatory policy
within the meaning of the preceding
sentence either by showing that it currently
enrolls students of racial minority groups in
meaningful numbers or, when minority
students are not enrolled in meaningful
numbers, that its promotional activities and
recruiting efforts in each geographic area
were reasonably designed to inform
students of all racial segments in the
general communities within the area of the
availability of the school. The question
whether a school satisfies the preceding
sentence will be determined on the basis
of the facts and circumstances of each
case.
(c) If a school customarily draws its
students from local communities and follows
a racially nondiscriminatory policy as to
students, the publicity requirement may be
satisfied by complying with section 4.02,
supra. Such a school may demonstrate that it
follows a racially nondiscriminatory policy
within the meaning of the preceding sentence
by showing that it currently enrolls students
of racial minority groups in meaningful
numbers. The question whether a school
satisfies the preceding sentence will be
determined on the basis of the facts and
circumstances of each case. One of the facts
and circumstances that the Service will
consider is whether the school’s promotional
activities and recruiting efforts in each area
were reasonably designed to inform students
of all racial segments in the general
communities within the area of the availability
of the school. The Service recognizes that the
failure by a school drawing its students from
local communities to enroll racial minority
group students may not necessarily indicate
the absence of a racially nondiscriminatory
policy as to students when there are relatively
few or no such students in these
communities. Actual enrollment is, however, a
meaningful indication of a racially

Form 5578 (Rev. 4-2009)

Page

nondiscriminatory policy in a community in
which a public school or schools became
subject to a desegregation order of a federal
court or otherwise expressly became
obligated to implement a desegregation plan
under the terms of any written contract or
other commitment to which any federal
agency was a party.

do not significantly derogate from the
school’s racially nondiscriminatory policy
similarly will not adversely affect the school’s
exempt status.

The Service encourages schools to satisfy
the publicity requirement by the methods
described in subsection 1 of this section,
regardless of whether a school considers
itself within subsection 2, because it believes
these methods to be the most effective to
make known a school’s racially
nondiscriminatory policy. In this regard it is
each school’s responsibility to determine
whether paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of
subsection 2 applies to it. On audit, a school
must be prepared to demonstrate that the
failure to publish its racially nondiscriminatory
policy in accordance with subsection 1 of this
section was justified by the application to it
of paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of subsection 2.
Further, a school must be prepared to
demonstrate that it has publicly disavowed or
repudiated any statements purported to have
been made on its behalf (after November 6,
1975) that are contrary to its publicity of a
racially nondiscriminatory policy as to
students, to the extent that the school or its
principal official were aware of such
statements.

You can access the IRS website 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week at www.irs.gov/eo to:

Section 4.04, Facilities and Programs. A
school must be able to show that all of its
programs and facilities are operated in a
racially nondiscriminatory manner.

● Tax Map: an electronic research tool and
finding aid.

Section 4.05, Scholarship and Loan
Programs. As a general rule, all scholarship
or other comparable benefits procurable for
use at any given school must be offered on a
racially nondiscriminatory basis. Their
availability on this basis must be known
throughout the general community being
served by the school and should be referred
to in the publicity required by this section in
order for that school to be considered racially
nondiscriminatory as to students. . . .
scholarships and loans that are made
pursuant to financial assistance programs
favoring members of one or more racial
minority groups that are designed to promote
a school’s racially nondiscriminatory policy
will not adversely affect the school’s exempt
status. Financial assistance programs favoring
members of one or more racial groups that

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