Orangeburg, SC (WLTX) - South Carolina State University will keep its accreditation but will remain on probation for one more year, a victory for the school as it looks to correct its ongoing financial difficulties.
SC State Acting President Franklin Events announced Thursday that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools had allowed the university to keep the accreditation. SACS had the option of revoking the school's membership with the agency.
Earlier this week, a five person team from SC State went to Portsmouth, VA to make its case to SACS' compliance committee that their accreditation should be left intact.
Acting President Franklin Evans said during that meeting, the compliance committee focused their questions on the school's finances, which he said have been turning around. He says the new board has been very helpful so far.
"They have corporate experience so they understand, they have a business mind," he said. "Many of them have experiences in running their own businesses and how financially stable institutions and organizations should be. So they bring that information, they bring that level of expertise to the role of a board member."
The school was originally placed on probation on June 20, 2014 for financial governance issues. A probation is more serious than a warning, and is usually the last step before a school loses its accreditation outright.
A loss of accreditation is typically catastrophic for a college or university, because If a school is not accredited, it loses federal financial aid, which would make it difficult for many students to enroll there. If enrollment were to plummet, the school would have difficultly staying open. Evans says he is relieved.
"I know one person who's going to sleep better and that's myself," he said. "But certainly we are relieved. That's one hurdle that's behind us and now we can focus on a brighter day. And it really is a new day here at south Carolina State University."
The school has been mired in financial difficulty for years, and is currently heavily in debt. The resulting controversy over the schools money woes--and how to deal with them--ultimately led to the dismissal of the school's president and the South Carolina General Assembly passing a bill to fire all trustees. A temporary group of trustees was picked to lead the school, and was specifically tasked with fixing the current mess and helping the school avoid a loss of accreditation.
The board's Vice President, James E. Clark, said SACS' move was a step in the right direction.
"This was a big one," he said. "This was a really big one. And there are still things to do, a lot of things we have done, things that we are doing, and things that we are going to do. A lot of positive things will be forthcoming over the next several days, weeks, months, even years."
During a meeting earlier this month. the board temporarily hired Dr. Peter Mitchell to provide academic and administrative advisory services to the board. He will help the board with fundraising, budgeting, and developing a five-year plan as well as making cuts to make up for the school's deficit of over $19 million.
SC State officials said they expect 2,100 students to enroll in August, a drop of 1,200 students from a year earlier. But its 2015-16 budget depends on 2,650 students. The new trustees approved providing $1 million in needs-based scholarships in an effort to enroll 550 additional students.
Clark says the enrollment numbers have been strong so far.
"Actually the last report that I got was actually ahead of this time last year," he said. "Even after all the negative things that have occurred, the team is aggressively pursuing it, and we're hopeful. We're hopeful."
The interim trustees are set to meet again on June 17.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
