NEW ORLEANS
An accreditation commission has sanctioned Dillard University, saying the school has not shown it is fiscally sound.
The decision by the Commission on Colleges doesn’t necessarily mean the school is having financial difficulties. It means Dillard has not filed “for the last year or two” an audit or other documentation that would prove its financial health, commission chief of staff Tom Benberg said.
Dillard released a statement stressing that it remains fully accredited and eligible for all state and federal money, and none of its programs is in trouble.
Benberg said Dillard has until December to file the needed paperwork. If the commission isn’t satisfied then, the school’s accreditation could be at stake. Students attending schools that lose accreditation aren’t eligible to receive federal financial aid, Benberg said.
Dillard President Marvalene Hughes, who started July 1, 2005, said in a statement that she and her staff are working to provide the requested documentation from 2000 to June 30, 2005.
“The circumstances, which we inherited, will be corrected,” Hughes said. “This is the university’s top priority.”
