Southeastern University (D.C.) Loses Accreditation

The District of Columbia's Southeastern University has lost its accreditation after 130 years of service to low-income and international students, and school officials do not expect to offer students a fall term, the Washington Post reports.

A report from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the university's accrediting body, found that the small, private college was losing faculty, enrollment, financial stability, and academic rigor. The school's accreditation expired August 31.

Even though about half of the 645 students enrolled at Southeastern last fall graduated in late June, another accreditation report found that only 14 percent of first-time students seeking bachelor's degrees at Southeastern graduated within six years. The report also noted that the university employed just 10 full-time faculty members to teach more than 30 academic programs with help from 150 adjunct professors. Many of Southeastern's former students have transferred to other Washington-area colleges and universities.

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