The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) has announced that the University of Maryland’s (UMD) accreditation is on warning status due to concerns about its transparency and its governance structure, which were well documented after the death of football player Jordan McNair on June 13, 2018.
The warning comes months after the MSCHE concluded that UMD violated one of its seven accreditation standards, Standard VII, which concerns “governance, leadership and administration.” Many of the MSCHE’s concerns involve the university’s Board of Regents, which sets policy for the University System of Maryland’s 12 institutions.
Should the UMD’s accreditation be revoked, students could lose federal funding that is used for financial aid. The university remains accredited while under warning; however, if representatives from the MSCHE are not satisfied with the results after its next scheduled visit in March 2020, the university could then be placed on probation.