ST. LOUIS — Harris-Stowe State University is no longer accredited by the main oversight group for teacher training programs after allowing its membership to lapse at the end of 2023.
The university has reapplied for accreditation with the , which it had held since October 2017, according to a statement from the Harris-Stowe communications office.
The lapse in national accreditation comes as the Missouri Board of Education will decide Feb. 6 whether Harris-Stowe meets state standards for training new teachers. The university was the only program out of 43 statewide to receive a letter of noncompliance in November from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Seven students graduated from Harris-Stowe’s teacher training program in spring of 2023, according to the university.
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The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation sets standards for teacher training programs in higher education. The accreditation is voluntary and requires annual fees of $3,155 for institutions the size of Harris-Stowe.
Fewer than half of the 2,200 teacher preparation programs across the U.S. are nationally accredited, according to a 2023 report in .
The accrediting council requires students in a teacher training program to have an average high school GPA of 3.0, “based on research that associates teacher academic achievement with (preschool through 12th grade) learners’ success, a relationship that is especially important for children at risk,†according to its .
The setback is the latest in a series of financial and academic challenges for the historically Black public university.
Harris-Stowe must also correct violations of accreditation standards with the Higher Learning Commission, which placed the university as a whole “on notice†for being at risk of falling out of compliance. The accrediting body will visit Harris-Stowe for a review this spring.
Enrollment has fallen by one-third since the pandemic started — down to 1,098 students this year from 1,630 students in fall of 2019. Harris-Stowe’s graduation rate of 20% in six years is among the lowest in the country.
Harris-Stowe traces its origin to the 19th century as separate colleges to train teachers for ºüÀêÊÓƵ Public Schools. Prospective white teachers attended Harris Teachers College, and prospective Black teachers attended Stowe Teachers College, an extension of Sumner High School.
The ºüÀêÊÓƵ school board merged the two colleges in 1954 as part of the effort to integrate public education in the city. For decades, most SLPS teachers came from Harris-Stowe.