RALEIGH, N.C. – St. Augustine’s University has lost its most recent bid to keep accreditation and is working to ensure students graduating this year will earn degrees through an accredited college, officials at the Raleigh school announced Thursday.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges upheld a December decision to remove the accreditation for St. Augustine’s, a historically Black university in the heart of the state’s capital.

Despite the loss, officials said that the school would not close and that it was preparing to welcome students in fall.

The association previously ended the school’s accreditation over what it said were financial and governance issues in December 2023 after two years of probation. St. Augustine’s officials successfully appealed last year, enabling the school to keep accreditation but remain on probation.

But financial problems dogged the university, and last year the IRS filed a $7.9 million tax lien against the school, which also had trouble paying staff salaries and vendors.

An SACSCOC committee voted in December to remove accreditation, a decision the school unsuccessfully appealed.

St. Augustine’s officials said that the SACSCOC’s decision wasn’t the outcome they wanted but it would enter a 90-day arbitration process with the organization. The school said it has received up to $70 million in funding to help pay off debt and invest in its campus.

“We have made substantial progress and are confident that our strengthened financial position and governance will ensure a positive outcome,” board of trustees chairman Brian Boulware said in a statement. “SAU is resilient, and we are resolute in our commitment to academic excellence.”

Accreditation from a higher education body affects federal financial aid to students, among other things. Bennett College in Greensboro was removed by the SACSCOC, also because of financial problems, and in 2020 became accredited through Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.