Paul Quinn Loses Appeal on Accreditation

The Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced Monday that an appeals panel had upheld the commission's decision in June to terminate the accreditation of Paul Quinn College. The appeals committee found that in revoking the ailing Dallas college's accreditation, the commission had neither made procedural errors nor made an "arbitrary nor unreasonable" decision -- the only grounds on which an institution can successfully appeal a decision by the commission, under the Southern association's policies. Under SACS rules, Paul Quinn's accreditation is now revoked, which means that students cannot receive federal financial aid. (Most Paul Quinn students now qualify for and receive such aid.) Paul Quinn officials could not be reached for comment on Monday, but a lawyer for the college previously had said that the historically black institution would file a lawsuit in federal court if its appeal was unsuccessful.