get these nets
Veteran
With 4 students enrolled, this North Carolina HBCU bets on its 5-year comeback plan.
Dec 2, 2022Barber-Scotia College, a 155-year old HBCU that lost its accreditation in 2004.
Barber-Scotia College alumni fondly remember a flourishing and bustling college, Friday night line dancing and packing out the yard on school evenings. These memories came alive again in October when they returned for the 155th homecoming. “It felt like the days we were on campus,” Pam Day, president of the National Alumni Association, said. “It was like we were back at Barber-Scotia when we all attended.” Back then there were hundreds of students. The current enrollment has only four students — and they all attend the college online. The Concord-based HBCU has faced declining enrollment and its fair share of hardships since losing its accreditation in 2004.
But alumni are hopeful. School leaders have launched a five-year plan to restore the school to prominence. The 2022-2027 strategic plan outlines the college’s pursuit for accreditation, its financial and academic goals. It’s spearheaded by three alumnae who see it as an inimitable opportunity to restore a college they all hold dear. “When you lose your accreditation then you automatically lose students,” Roberta Pinckney, chair of the school’s Board of Trustees, said. “You lose your financial base
Finances are what caused the college to come up short when it last tried to restore accreditation years ago, she said. The school received a break when the Department of Education discharged nearly $12 million in debt last year. In April, school officials were inspired when Morris Brown, an Atlanta-based HBCU, announced its accreditation was restored. Located in a hub among other HBCUs — Spelman College, Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University — the news came after a 20-year journey for the HBCU that lost its accreditation in 2002.
What also differs this time, Pinckney said, is the singular vision shared between the Board of Trustees, the National Alumni Association, and the current interim president. “I just feel strongly that it’s God’s will to get this college up and running again,” Pinckney said. A long road ahead
In 2004, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked the college’s accreditation. The school awarded degrees in its adult program to 30 students who did not fulfill proper requirements, the Charlotte Observer previous reported. This came after problems with financial resources prompted the accreditation organization to issue a warning. The move cost Barber-Scotia’s ability to participate in federal student financial aid programs. While the school can still give out four-year degrees, a sharp decline in enrollment precipitated continued financial challenges. A plan to have at least 24 students attend in-person this fall stalled when the school’s buildings didn’t meet the city’s code inspection, Tracey Flemmings, interim president of Barber-Scotia, said