DETROIT
Lewis College of Business, the only historically Black college in Michigan, has been given a one-month extension before its accreditation is removed by the Higher Learning Commission. The college’s original deadline was June 30.
Steven Crow, president of the HLC, says the extension was given so the college can complete the rest of its summer semester.
When a college loses accreditation, its students can no longer receive federal financial aid and their credits cannot be transferred to a different institution. And most graduate institutions and employers will not recognize a degree from an unaccredited college.
According to a letter posted on Lewis’ Web site and signed by interim president Violet E. Ponders, the college “does not believe the HLC decision to withdraw its accreditation is ‘just’ or serves the community.”
The decision to strip the two-year college of its accreditation, according to the public disclosure notice posted on the commission’s Web site, was made because the college failed to meet two of its Criteria of Accreditation: leadership and evidence that it can respond to future challenges.
“It’s sort of puzzling to us that the areas they have concern with seem to be the subjective areas,” Lewis’ dean and chief academic officer Deolis Allen Jr. is quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press.
