Virginia University of Lynchburg Accreditation on Warning

[sanantone]

Update: On April 22, 2024, announced by this public disclosure issued May 21, 2024, the Accreditation Commission of TRACS voted to place Virginia University of Lynchburg on Probation, changing VUL's status from Accredited – Warning to Accredited – Probation.

Ouch! I thought good news was going to be reported when I saw the update. 

Many universities have survived probation, but considering that VUL is small, has financial issues and poor administration, and I think they previously lost regional accreditation, I wouldn't start a DHA there. The DHCA at Oklahoma State University is affordable, regionally accredited, and it has an actual healthcare administration curriculum taught by people with healthcare administration and clinical backgrounds. I question TRACS letting VUL call this a healthcare administration degree. It should have been a generic leadership, administration, or management degree.

I've never been able to find anything saying they were ever RA. I've searched numerous times and haven't found anything. TRACS has also been in hot water so it's not looking good.

It's hard to find the full history of this school. They were accredited by TRACS in 2005; they were recognized as an HBCU in 2011. Old documents say that VUL, which went under a different name at that time, was licensed by Virginia in the 1900s. I guess being licensed was good enough to get the HBCU designation. Other HBCUs that I'm familiar with were accredited in the early 1900s, not just licensed. Everything about VUL is questionable. They were also placed on probation in 2013. 

TRACS might end up getting the ACICS treatment in the future. They've received some scrutiny, but they're not under official investigation, as far as I know. It's strange, though, that schools that have lost regional accreditation flock to TRACS. If a school can't meet TRACS' comparatively low standards, then there must be something seriously wrong.