Southeastern University in Washington has been told that it will lose its regional accreditation in August, and the small private institution in the nation's capital is exploring a possible merger to survive, the university announced [1] this week. Southeastern posted on its Web site [2] a letter in which the Middle States Commission on Higher Education said that it would strip its approval by the end of August because of the university's failure to comply with a wide range of standards governing finances, faculty, admissions, and assessment, among others. A statement by the university's president, [3]Charlene Drew Jarvis, said the university would appeal but that it was also exploring a possible merger with GS Graduate School, which is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and educates tens of thousands of government and other employees.