A whole lot of drama, it appears.
The University of St. Thomas’ institutional accreditation is up for renewal as the school grapples with a shakeup in its administrative ranks and six consecutive years of financial losses.
The evaluation is a test of academic quality and integrity, and a passing grade tells students and donors that colleges are well-resourced and uphold high standards of education. Recent events at the private Catholic university in Houston have proven that the status is not a given.
Among the issues:
- In 2022, the university dropped its affiliation with the Texas Education Agency. Graduating students need state certification to teach in Texas public schools, and St. Thomas now works with an outside organization to supervise its student-teacher training so they can get jobs in Texas school districts after graduation.
- Business faculty opted last year to delay their program’s accreditation with the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, an organization that signals credibility and prestige to international students and prospective employers. The university will not say whether it will pursue re-accreditation.
- The number of tenure and tenure-track faculty has been nearly cut in half since the last accreditation, leaving fewer professors to teach courses students need for graduation.
- Some students say the university publicly offers classes that it doesn’t regularly provide, forcing them to scramble to find relevant courses and credits they need for degrees, sometimes at an additional cost.
St. Thomas officials did not answer questions about each of the issues, but expressed confidence the university is “on track” for re-accreditation and said in a statement it “is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of academic excellence for our students.”
“Under our new leadership, we are ready to move forward with faith, transparency, and a renewed commitment to the community we serve,” they said.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges will conduct an on-site review this month to prepare for a December decision on re-accreditation, which it requires once a decade.
Even schools with poor initial showings can redeem themselves with follow-ups and improvement plans. But if St. Thomas fails at the end of the process, it loses its ability to distribute federal student aid. Without the crucial revenue stream, many colleges shut their doors, said Gerardo Blanco, an associate professor of higher education at Boston College.
“The key word here is ‘continuous improvement.’ It’s not ‘perfection,’” Blanco said. “All institutions will run into issues. The problem is when this becomes a pattern, particularly of something that goes unaddressed.”
There’s a lot more, so read the rest. Loss of accreditation would be a massive event, and seems unlikely despite the current turmoil and concern. But just being in that conversation is troubling. UST is a pretty affordable school and its student population has grown, which is a benefit for them. One hopes they can work this out. A dear friend of our family is graduating from UST this year, and I’d really prefer that her degree be as valuable tomorrow as it is today.