Decision To Strip Paul Quinn’s Accreditation Called A “Death Sentence”

The president of Paul Quinn College said Friday he would appeal the loss of the historically Black college’s accreditation with the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

 “We have turned the corner at PQC, “ Paul Quinn President Michael Sorrell said in blog post published on Friday, the same day the college held a press conference on campus. “Schools that have a 600% increase in applications, eliminate more than $800,000 in debt over the course of the last six weeks, increase donations by 90% in two years and produce a quarter million dollar surplus in the worst economy since the Great Depression deserve the opportunity to finish the work they have started.”

If the small Texas school’s appeal is rejected, Paul Quinn students would be ineligible for federal and state financial aid. This is problematic because most students will not be able to enroll without that aid.

Dr. Belle S. Wheelan, president of the SACS, told Diverse in a phone interview that Sorrell had led many substantial improvements, but the college still had not met the commission’s standards.

The commission was concerned about the institution’s financial resources—whether or not the school had enough money to keep the doors open— and if the school was financially stable, Wheelan said.

The association also raised concerns about Paul Quinn’s institutional effectiveness, which assesses if students are learning what the commission said students must learn, according to the commission’s Principles of Accreditation: Principles for Quality Enhancement.

“They had made good progress on some issues that caused some concerned two years ago but they were not able to demonstrate that they had been in full compliance with those three areas,” Wheelan said.