Emory & Henry University has been placed on probation by its accreditor due to concerns about its fiscal responsibility.
The private institution in Emory remains accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges but will spend the next 12 months on “probation for good cause.”
SACSCOC started monitoring E&H two years ago after detecting compliance issues at the university, according to documents released Friday. The school was then placed on probation in June because it was still out of compliance with a financial responsibility requirement of accreditation.
Probation is the most serious sanction a school can receive without having its accreditation revoked. Accreditors validate the quality and credibility of colleges and universities and evaluate these benchmarks on a regular basis. SACSCOC is one of 19 institution-level accreditors in the U.S.
The requirement in question states that “the institution manages its financial resources and operates in a fiscally responsible manner,” according to SACSCOC’s principles of accreditation available online, but it does not describe the indicators by which it determines whether that standard is being achieved.
University says it is on track to remedy financial concerns
The probation status indicates that the institution has taken significant steps to address its noncompliance issues and has provided evidence to indicate it can fix those compliance issues within a year.
“Although this is not the outcome we had hoped for, we are encouraged that SACSCOC has recognized our significant recent progress in addressing our financial position and our potential to remedy the deficiencies within the sanction period,” university President Louise Fincher said in a letter dated June 20. That letter was included in a package of accreditation action documents uploaded by SACSCOC on Friday.
The letter noted that SACSCOC’s decision was based in part on financial records from the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Fincher wrote that the university has “taken steps to address our business model” since then to ensure the university “lives within its resources.”
For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the university worked to remedy a financial deficit of $7.5 million and “is projected to finish the year with a balanced budget,” Fincher wrote.
Lois Williams, vice president for enrollment and marketing at the university, responded to an interview request by reiterating the details shared on an FAQ page on the university’s website. She emphasized that E&H has not lost its accreditation.
Williams did not respond to follow-up questions regarding the current size of the university’s deficit and whether its debt was a factor in the SACSCOC board’s decision.
The FAQ outlined actions it has taken to improve its financial status, including reorganizing academic programs, streamlining transfer credits for Virginia community college students and expanding teacher training program partnerships with area public school systems.
In April 2024, the university revealed that it was looking for ways to reduce the school’s budget via restructuring, which was expected to result in small reductions to faculty, staff and programs over a three-year period. It has not formally announced any program eliminations or reductions in force since that time.
E&H will submit its next report to SACSCOC in April 2026. The probation status will be reviewed by the SACSCOC board in June 2026. At that time, the board will either remove the university from probation, continue the probation and require another monitoring report, or remove the institution’s accreditation status.
“SACSCOC staff will not speculate on what decision might be made by the Board of Trustees in June 2026,” the disclosure statement on the body’s action regarding E&H stated.
Prior to the monitoring that began two years ago, E&H was previously monitored by SACSCOC in 2018 and 2019. It was last evaluated and had its accreditation reaffirmed in 2017; the university will next undergo that process in 2027.
Virginia Union University in Richmond is also on probation by SACSCOC; the University of Lynchburg and Marymount University in Arlington are under the less-severe warning status, according to listings on the SACSCOC website.
Emory & Henry had operating revenues of $51 million for the fiscal year ending in June 2024 and operating expenses of about $57 million, according to the latest audit. For the year prior, the school brought in about $53 million and had operating expenses of about $55.5 million.
Its debt increased from about $60.4 million in fiscal 2023 to $70 million last fiscal year. More than $44 million of the debt owed is from U.S. Department of Agriculture loans from 2016, which have a 40-year term. Also contributing to the debt are loans and bonds for building student housing projects, constructing E&H’s health sciences school in Marion and building its new sports complex.
E&H’s endowment was worth more than $101 million as of June 2024, though only about $7.5 million could be used without donor restrictions. The university’s accreditation FAQ says its endowment is currently at $105 million. 
Probation follows recent expansion efforts
Emory & Henry transitioned from a college to a university in 2024, after a decade building up offerings for master’s degrees alongside its bachelor’s degree programs.
The school has undertaken significant campus renovations and additions over the past few years, including new apartment-style student housing, a new athletic complex, a new equestrian center and a facility renovation for the university’s new business school.
The university completed its move from Division III to Division II in the National Collegiate Athletic Association in summer 2024. The school has since eliminated its swimming and golf programs.
E&H also recently launched a lab school for high school students interested in training for health care careers, one of more than a dozen partnerships between school divisions and colleges that have launched with state funding.
Fincher was formally selected as president in March. She had previously been a senior vice president at the school and was named interim president in summer 2024 after the abrupt resignation of predecessor John Wells. Wells took a job in North Carolina after a five-year stint leading E&H.
After a dip in 2020, the university’s enrollment recovered and held steady from 2021 to 2023, with about 1,350 students across undergraduate and graduate programs.
Enrollment dropped to 1,311 in fall 2024.
