The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has issued a “show cause” action to Sojourner-Douglass College in Baltimore, Maryland. The accrediting body is asking the college to issue a detailed report by September 1 on why it should keep its accreditation.
Sojourner-Douglass College enrolls about 1,300 students. African Americans make up 92 percent of the student body and women are 88 percent of all enrolled students.
Among the information the accrediting body is requiring the college to provide is documented evidence of:
- Implementation of a financial planning and budgeting process, aligned with the institution’s mission and goals, that provides for multi-year budgets and realistic enrollment projections and demonstrates that the institution has sufficient resources to carry out its mission and execute its plans.
- The completion of the planned sale/lease-back of property and an analysis of its impact on institutional debt and operating expenses.
- The implementation of a satisfactory plan for the repayment of unpaid federal and state taxes, interest and penalties.
- The completion of efforts to consolidate and refinance the institution’s term loan.
- The implementation of additional efforts to remediate the institution’s deficit position.
The college is also required to formulate a plan on how students requiring access to Title IV funding will be accommodated if accreditation is revoked.