ST. LOUIS — Harris-Stowe State University has been placed “on notice†with an accrediting agency because of several issues primarily related to financial and academic record-keeping.
The Higher Learning Commission sanctioned the university Nov. 3 for being at risk of falling out of compliance with accreditation requirements. The commission will review the university’s correction plan in spring of 2024.
The commission found fault in several components of its accreditation criteria, including a late audit of fiscal year 2021, inadequate tracking of student academic outcomes and a lack of strategies to improve retention and graduation rates.
Harris-Stowe is the only school on notice out of 109 Missouri colleges rated by the commission and one of only two in the country along with Taylor Business Institute in Chicago. Of the 11 campuses nationwide on probation, a higher-level sanction, two are in Missouri — Hannibal-LaGrange University and Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar.
People are also reading…
A letter of notice from the commission “is not always fatal, but it is not a promising indicator,†said Gary Stocker of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ-based research firm .
Under the notice, Harris-Stowe must correct the issues by February 2024 in preparation for a follow-up visit that spring. The commission could then decide to remove the sanction in fall of 2024.
The accreditation status should not affect Harris-Stowe students, according to the commission’s . Class credits still likely continue to count toward transfers or admission to higher degree programs.
Harris-Stowe has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1924. The decision this month to place the school on notice was based on a site visit last spring for a five-year review of the campus.
President LaTonia Collins Smith said the past five years have been “an unusual time†with three presidents and one interim president overseeing the campus along with challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enrollment has fallen by one-third since the pandemic started — down to 1,078 current students from 1,630 students in fall of 2019. Harris-Stowe’s graduation rate of 12% in six years is among the lowest in the country.
Collins Smith, who was named president in March, said the university has taken a “hard reset†to correct the areas of concern by hiring new chief financial and academic officers, appointing new comptroller and compliance officer along with refining the oversight procedures.
“The Higher Learning Commission is comfortable with the changes that have been made under my leadership,†Collins Smith said.
The university will reveal its new strategic plan on Jan. 3. For the past year, the university has implemented a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs across all academic programs. More degrees have been awarded in biology than any other major over the past three years.
“Harris-Stowe continues to be an outstanding university,†Collins Smith said. “There are a lot of exciting things that are going on here ... to be that beacon that we have always been.â€