Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Penn State accreditation in jeopardy over sex abuse scandal

Penn State accreditation in jeopardy over sex abuse scandal
By Michael Pearson, CNN   Wed August 15, 2012

(CNN) -- The organization that grants academic accreditation to Penn State has warned the school that it is in danger of losing that crucial status in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, the university announced this week.

The move by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education is the latest blow for the beleaguered university, which has seen its reputation clobbered and its football program hobbled after investigators found school leaders did too little to stop the abuse.

Were the commission to pull Penn State's accreditation -- which it has not done -- the school would face the loss of eligibility for federal student aid programs, guaranteed student loans, federal research grants and could lose eligibility for state aid, commission spokesman Richard Pockrass said in July....

The commission voted August 6 to place the school on warning status. Two days later, it notified Penn State officials that the school's accreditation was "in jeopardy" based on information contained in former FBI Director Louis Freeh's report on Penn State's handling of the sex-abuse allegations against Sandusky and a National Collegiate Athletic Association action against the school.

Freeh found that Penn State's leadership showed "total and consistent disregard" for youths sexually abused by Sandusky, the former assistant football coach convicted by a jury in June on 45 counts involving child sex abuse. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September. http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/14/us/penn-state-accreditation/index.html

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