St. Andrews Presbyterian College has reached an agreement with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to allow the Laurinburg college to maintain regional accreditation through the end of the spring semester.

School officials say that its accreditation from the American Academy of Liberal Education, another accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, will adequately supplant the regional accreditation for purposes of financial aid, athletic eligibility and recognition of classes.

Paul Baldasare, president of St. Andrews Presbyterian College, said that a settlement was reached between SACS and St. Andrews during mediation required during the school's appeal of a prior court decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The decision agreed that SACS was within its rights to strip St. Andrews of regional accreditation and offered due process.

The agreement was reached last month.

"What we decided to do, what made sense to do, was rather than to spend money and time on the appeal, that SACS would agree that the stay of the judges decision would stay in affect until the end of the semester, which would allow us the time we need to finalize things with the department of education." Baldasare said.

The semester ends May 31.

"At the end of the spring semester, our intentions are that AALE will be our primary accreditor for purposes of the Department of Education and we will be able to move forward without the need for SACS accreditation," Baldasare said.

The college currently is currently accredited both by AALE and SACS.

While the full affects of this decision are still unknown, Baldasare said the college is positive there will be minimal issues from the loss of SACS accreditation.

"My hope is this won't affect students at all, that this will be seamless."

Access to federal financial aid will not be disrupted as AALE is recognized by the Department of Education.

However, many other groups and agencies, including the state of North Carolina and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, only recognize regional accreditation.

Baldasare says this is largely an oversight by these agencies as, when standards requiring accreditation for state funds and for participation in athletic conferences were first put in place, the only federally recognized bodies were regional accrediting organizations.

He called this reliance on regional accrediting organizations "archaic" and felt St. Andrews had a strong case in changing state law and NCAA policy in the coming months.

Baldasare said state law required accreditation through SACS for state financial aid. When Johnson and Wales University opened a satellite campus in Charlotte, the institution was accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the northeastern version of SACS. The state amended the law so institutions accredited by NEASC were also eligible for state financial aid.

The college president said he felt it was likely the state would make a similar exception for St. Andrews.

"We will likely go to the legislature and request that there be a recognition in our case for AALE accreditation," Baldasare said.

The president says the college is doing the same to maintain NCAA membership.

"We have made a request to the NCAA that they include, either in our case or in general, that accreditation by AALE would be recognized," Baldasare said.

He expects the executive committee will make their decision by semester's end, but is not worried should the decision be prolonged as the NCAA membership committee has guaranteed St. Andrews membership until the executive committee rules on the issue.

"I am very confident that the NCAA is going to approve our requests," Baldasare said.

He reported conversations with NCAA officials that seemed promising for a positive outcome.

SACS decided to strip St. Andrews of its accreditation during the summer of 2007 because of concerns over the schools finances, according to Vice President Bob Hopkins.

"The primary issue that SACS addressed was the financial condition of the college," Hopkins said. "SACS even affirmed during the various reviews that it conducted in the two years prior to that decision... that the academic program was strong, that they did not identify any deficiency in the academic program.

"They continued to take a look at the level of debt the college had and the general finances of the college. They expressed their concerns of whether or not St. Andrews could remain viable given the financial status that they had determined the college was in. Of course, now we are here two and a half years later moving along, serving students and delivering good educational programs still."

Baldasare also noted that AALE may be a better accrediting agency for St. Andrews as the national organization deals only with small, liberal arts colleges; SACS deals with schools of all missions and sizes, including community colleges and large Universities as well as the smaller schools.

St. Andrews has a number of local supporters who'd like to see the college through.

Laurinburg Mayor Matthew Block says the liberal arts college is an important part of the community.

"Our city's logo has Home of 'St. Andrews' – whoever designed that logo and all of us at city hall feel it is so important," Block said.

The mayor said the college brings strong financial and social benefits to Laurinburg. With students spending money locally, a large payroll and both retired professors and St. Andrews graduates staying in Laurinburg, he sees it as an indispensable institution.

"It is hard to overstate the importance of St. Andrews," Block said. "It is one of those things that sets us apart from other small towns."

He believes losing St. Andrews "would be as big of a blow to Laurinburg as when we lost Abbott or West Point Stevens."

The city has not been standing idly by, however.

"We've had some meetings with President Baldasare just exploring ways that the city can help the college get through this," Block said.

Any municipal assistance is in its early stages and it would be premature to discuss what aid may be offered, Block said.