Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Southeastern Univ. Loses Accreditation, Students Transfer After Classes Canceled

Southeastern University, a private university located in southwest D.C., was stripped of its regional accreditation on Aug. 31. The university is not offering a fall session and is not currently accepting students, it stated on its Web site.

The [Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)](https://www.msche.org/) revoked the university’s accreditation following a review of the university conducted from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14, 2008, which concluded that the university lacked academic rigor, was losing faculty and enrollment and was becoming financially unstable. According to the commission’s report, 14 percent of first-time students seeking bachelor’s degrees there graduate within six years.

In a memorandum sent on March 9, Telaekah Brooks, dean of faculty and academic affairs at Southeastern University, informed Southeastern students and faculty that the MSCHE would be removing the university’s accreditation status on Aug. 31 following the decision issued by the commission on March 6.

“We are working diligently to ensure that all of our students are taken care of,” Brooks said in the memorandum.

Brooks outlined three steps that the university was pursuing at the time, including the consideration of an appeal, engagement in merger discussions and the coordination of a six-week summer term in order to grant more students a degree from an accredited university.

In an effort to graduate more students while still accredited, the university extended the graduation registration deadline to March 28, 2009. In the memorandum, Brooks encouraged students who were due to graduate at the end of the spring and summer semesters to apply to graduate as soon as possible. In its June 29 ceremony, the university graduated 310 students, according to [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/28/AR2009062802389.html). On the same day, the university’s summer semester began, offering 100 classes.

Students who were unable to graduate by the end of the summer term, however, were given the opportunity to transfer to another MSCHE-accredited institution. Southeastern University offered to facilitate this transfer and to contact D.C. universities to “ensure that the maximum number of . credits transfer,” according to the memorandum.

[The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/14/AR2009091401088.html) reported that approximately 300 students transferred to nearby universities, including the University of the District of Columbia, Trinity Washington University and Washington Adventist University.

The MSCHE is a voluntary, non-governmental association that accredits institutions of higher education in the mid-Atlantic region, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 18 international locations.

“Middle States accreditation instills public confidence in institutional mission, goals, performance and resources through its rigorous accreditation standards and their enforcement,” according to its Web site. The chair of the MSCHE executive committee is Peter Burnham, president of [Brookdale Community College](https://www.brookdalecc.edu/pages/1.asp) in Lincroft, N.J.

Southeastern University was first accredited by the MSCHE in 1977 and was reaccredited in 2006.

Founded in 1789, Southeastern University had 482 undergraduate students and 160 graduate students, according to the College Board’s profile of the university. Of those seeking bachelor’s degrees, 47 percent were reported to be studying business and marketing. “

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