A boost for Cheyney University: The school will keep its accreditation – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Students and staff at Cheyney University can exhale. A regional body on Monday reaffirmed its accreditation, ending years of uncertainty about whether the financially beleaguered school would be forced to close.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education announced its decision following a closed-door hearing in Philadelphia last week where Cheyney officials made their case.
Key in the decision was Gov. Tom Wolf’s pledge to make sure Cheyney’s $40 million debt to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and its chancellor’s office is eliminated.
While citing Cheyney’s “significant progress” in reaching compliance, James Sunser, vice chair of the commission, also said Wolf’s pledge “greatly improved the institution’s financial outlook.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how Wolf would ensure elimination of the debt, but Cheyney president Aaron A. Walton said the governor has pledged to find a way to provide that money to the state system, which oversees Cheyney and 13 other universities.