Dive Brief:
- The accreditation of Saint Augustine’s University has once again been revived, this time through a preliminary court injunction issued Friday.
- Last week, the beleaguered historically Black university sued its accreditor, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, alleging that the most recent revocation was "unsupported by the evidence."
- A federal district judge approved the North Carolina university's request to temporarily reverse SACSCOC's decision while the case is heard — meaning Saint Augustine’s can operate as an accredited institution for the fall semester.
Dive Insight:
Sophie Gibson, Saint Augustine’s newly appointed board chair, applauded the judge's decision Friday.
“This injunction is not just a legal reprieve; it is a testament to the power of the Falcon community," she said in a statement. "It allows us to continue educating our students without interruption as we vigorously defend SAU’s future in court, and it shows that we soar higher when we soar together."
Saint Augustine’s accreditation has been in a state of near-constant flux for almost two years, since SACSCOC first voted to terminate its membership in 2023.
The private nonprofit university successfully appealed that decision last summer, but the agency again voted to pull its accreditation in December over funding and governance concerns.
Saint Augustine’s appealed the decision to SACSCOC but lost in March, prompting the university to pursue arbitration.
In court documents filed Thursday, the university alleged SACSCOC undermined its due process protections and ignored evidence that supported its accreditation eligibility.
"It is not an overstatement to say that, if SACSCOC's decision is permitted to stand, loss of accreditation will likely result in the demise and dissolution of SAU," Saint Augustine’s told the court.
SACSCOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Saint Augustine’s fall semester, which will be held virtually, is set to begin Sept. 2.
"We have said all along that we will stop at nothing to maintain our accreditation and continue serving our scholars — and we meant it," Marcus Burgess, the university's interim president, said in a statement Friday.
Saint Augustine's has taken significant steps to cut its annual budget by over half — a reduction of $17 million — including through widespread employee layoffs. The 158-year-old university now employs about 40 people.
Gibson and Burgess thanked the alumni and donors who have supported Saint Augustine's financially. That includes the National Alumni Association of Saint Augustine’s University, which donated $100,000 — the amount the institution needed to pursue the accreditation injunction.
But the university still needs to raise over $2 million to maintain its "open and accredited status," it said in fundraising materials. That includes almost $689,000 to cover payroll, utilities and instructional services for fall 2025.
Another $650,000 is needed to settle student refunds university owes. Saint Augustine's said clearing that debt would allow it to be removed from the U.S. Department of Education's Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 list, a status that requires colleges to pay federal financial aid out of pocket before seeking reimbursement from the federal government.
The department is currently withholding some $8 million in Title IV federal financial aid from the university, according to Saint Augustine's.
