Dive Brief:
- The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges levied its most serious sanction short of revoking accreditation in putting the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a 12-month probation.
- The News & Observer reports that the accreditation body faulted the university for seven standards violations, including control of intercollegiate athletics and integrity.
- While probation is very uncommon, the consequence was expected in the case of UNC-Chapel Hill, and Chancellor Carol Folt stressed to the community that there would be no financial impact from the sanction, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Investigators discovered widespread and systemic academic fraud at UNC as counselors steered two decades worth of athletes to sham classes that helped keep their grades high enough to play. As the News & Observer reports, the severe consequences from the accreditation body were, at least in part, because UNC leaders did not cooperate with the original investigation and instead tried to hide the extent of the truth. The university has instituted dozens and dozens of reforms in the last few years and a raft of implicated leaders have resigned in the wake of a scandal that will taint university's reputation for many years to come.