What Happens When a College Loses Accreditation?

We had our very successful Middle States accreditation visit just last spring. My first experiece with accreditation was in 1984. As a freshman in college, I was vaguely aware that the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department - where I was a student - was in the process of their ABET re-accreditation. Being a freshman, I really had no idea what ABET was and the importance of accreditation to an engineering program. The outcome of that ABET-visit was that the department did not have the facilities for Aerospace Engineering. As a result, the department was renamed Mechanical Engineering and all the MAE courses became ME courses. Here's what happened to Compton Community College, since losing their accreditation. Sounds a lot like declaring bankruptcy. Compton Community College Benefits From Takeover - Chronicle.com

Compton Community College has made substantial progress since it was taken over two years ago by the El Camino Community College District, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The takeover came after Compton, plagued by years of financial mismanagement and other problems, lost its accreditation.

The college, now a satellite campus of the El Camino district, has been rechristened El Camino College Compton Community Education Center. The district has poured $41-million in bond money into renovations of Compton’s crumbling facilities. The college is improving its curriculum, and three new deans have been hired.

Officials said enrollment at the college has grown from 3,400 last year to 4,600 this year, partly as a result of better relationships with the local community, the Times reported.

The soonest Compton could apply for accreditation is 2013, officials told the newspaper.