Accreditation Committee Puts Unc Chapel Hill On Probation After Academic Scandal

The news comes in the wake of the committee’s investigation into the 224-page report that UNC-Chapel Hill submitted to SACS in January which asked the accreditation board to find the school in compliance with its standards despite Kenneth Wainstein’s investigation into long-standing academic impropriety at the university.

MORE: Our preseason Top 25 | Latest details of NCAA investigation | Tar Heels’ newest uniforms 

Probation, according to the SACS website, is “usually, but not necessarily, invoked as the last step before an institution is removed from membership.” The maximum probationary term that any school may serve is two years. 

DeCOURCY: SACS should scare UNC, not NCAA

A university’s accreditation status is important because it dictates that a particular school offers a quality education — a factor that employers often weigh when evaluating the degrees of potential candidates.

By opting for probation instead of removing UNC-Chapel Hill’s membership altogether, SACS recognized that the school has been making an effort to correct its wayward course.