The University of Lynchburg’s accreditor has issued a warning against the private college. It’s an early sanction that, if not remedied, could eventually lead to the college losing its accreditation.
In a meeting Dec. 8, the board of trustees of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges placed the university in warning status for failing to comply with five requirements relating to administrative effectiveness, financial responsibility and student outcomes.
Accreditation shows that a college or university is upholding standards expected in higher education, and it is required for a school to participate in the federal and state student financial aid programs. An accreditor evaluates the school on a regular basis to ensure it is meeting its standards.
SACSCOC reviews whether a member school has upheld standards in 14 categories, ranging from governance and finances to library services and facilities.
The commission has not withdrawn the university’s accreditation, but it denied its reaffirmation for a year while the school addresses the warning. Member schools must be evaluated and reaffirmed as accredited every 10 years. Lynchburg was last affirmed in 2014.
The University of Lynchburg failed to operate in a “fiscally responsible manner,” according to a list of actions taken by the commission at its December meeting.
The university also failed to identify and evaluate student learning goals for each educational program and for student support services. Finally, the university did not provide an institutional audit for the most recent fiscal year.
Out of the 100 public and private SACSCOC member schools in Virginia, Lynchburg is the only one on warning status. Virginia Union University in Richmond is on probation for financial issues; that sanction is more severe than being put on warning.
The University of Lynchburg announced in late May that it would cut 12 undergraduate and five graduate programs over the next few years to help reduce a budget deficit of about $12 million.
Phasing out those programs will eliminate about 40 faculty positions, and the university also laid off about 40 people from various university departments in late May.
The university has created a webpage outlining the SACSCOC warning and how it is responding.
“This was not wholly unexpected,” university President Alison Morrison-Shetlar wrote in an email posted on the page.
She also said, “The changes made several months ago to right-size our university and accomplish this vision and mission will have a significant financial impact — the impact of which will not be fully realized within the next 12 months.”
The university must show improvement by the end of 2025. It will receive a letter from the accrediting commission in January outlining the body’s expectations for the university to remedy the delinquencies, Lynchburg’s webpage noted.
Morrison-Shetlar said most of the areas identified by accreditation officials had already been identified by the university for improvement prior to the commission’s site visit for its reaffirmation process, which took place in March.
“SACSCOC is looking for additional info that the financial plan we put in place is working,” Heather Bradley, associate vice president for marketing and communications, said by email Thursday when asked about the financial responsibility component of the body’s warning. She said much of the cost savings from reducing the number of majors offered at the school won’t be realized for several years, while the programs are being phased out.
She also noted that the university’s fiscal year 2024 audit was not available during the commission’s assessment but will be provided in the university’s response.
“This is also an opportunity for us to work more closely with our board of trustees to present an FY26 budget with a positive operating margin,” Bradley said. “We are exploring new strategies for cost savings and so we can meet SACSCOC’s requirements within the allotted time frame.”
Lynchburg became a university in 2018 to reflect its increasing number of graduate programs. This year, amidst the staff reductions, the school transitioned to a three-school model for operational efficiency.
In the fall semester of 2018, Lynchburg had nearly 3,100 students across its programs. This fall, it had just over 2,300. It was the school’s lowest fall headcount in the past 13 years.
Faculty have raised concerns about the university’s decision to cut programs and reduce staffing levels. In September, the Virginia Conference of the American Association of University Professors sent a letter to the university condemning the elimination of several arts and humanities majors and claimed that the university had violated shared governance between faculty and administrators in deciding to eliminate those programs.
Morrison-Shetlar responded in a letter to the Virginia AAUP, saying the administration and board of trustees adhered to their fiduciary duty to the college and that program eliminations were made after “years” of collaboration in line with shared governance processes.
“We firmly believe we acted in accordance with our policies and in the best interests of the university’s educational mission and duty to students,” she concluded.
The university spent nearly $8.6 million more than the revenue it earned in the fiscal year ending June 2023, according to its most recent audit available online. It has an endowment of $193 million, with about $130 million restricted to specified purposes, such as scholarships or buildings and equipment.
