Guilford College Off Probation, Retains Accreditation

Guilford College can breathe a sigh of relief.

The Greensboro liberal arts college is back in good standing with its accreditor after two years of probation over financial issues, Guilford President Jean Bordewich announced Tuesday. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges’ (SACSCOC) Board of Trustees made the decision at its annual meeting, held December 6-9 in Nashville.

“We did it!” Guilford President Jean Bordewich announced to cheers on Tuesday at a small press conference and celebration on campus at Founders Hall.

“We all know how we did it,” Bordewich said. “We came together as a community—everybody in this room and the wide world of Guilfordians really came together this year and worked to make this happen. And we did it because we have a common mission—our students, our educational mission, and a community that just won’t quit.”

“We lifted each other up during some difficult times, and we all had a common goal,” Bordewich said. “Which was to keep Guilford here, healthy, alive, and ready to grow in the future to be the kind of place we know Guilford can be and will be.”

Guilford has struggled financially for years, its enrollment dropping by at least 40% over the past eight years. For much of that time, Guilford didn’t adjust its expenses to offset the decreased revenue. The college also let millions of dollars in tuition go uncollected since the COVID-19 pandemic and had operated at a loss of about $2.4 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year alone.

The issues were enough for SACSCOC to place Guilford on probation in 2023 for failing to meet financial requirements. The accreditor extended the college’s probation last year, while also knocking it for inadequate financial resources. Per the agency’s rules, colleges can be on probation for a maximum of two consecutive years, giving Guilford a year to balance its budget or face possible removal from the agency’s membership. 

In the end, the college was successful.

In tandem with raising more than $6 million from alumni and other donors earlier this year, Guilford leaders also reduced the college’s 2025 fiscal year expenses by $5.8 million. The college also cut more than a quarter of its workforce, renegotiated vendor contracts, and consolidated into fewer campus buildings for the year to cut more expenses.

In May, Guilford’s Chief Operating Officer Keith Millner estimated the college could face a $10 million deficit next year. The college later said the likely deficit was $5 million. On Tuesday, he announced that it has been completely eliminated, the college’s budget is now balanced, and Guilford is running a cash surplus and growing its endowment.

An agreement reached in June between Guilford and the Piedmont Land Conservancy for a large, undeveloped section of the school’s land could net Guilford as much as $8.5 million. But the conservancy first has to raise the funds, which could take more than two years.

The college has also been auctioning off part of its art collection, with one painting recently selling for $406,000 through Christie’s auction house.

But there’s still more work to be done.

“A wise man once said the best way to determine the future is to create it,” Millner said. “So we’re going to create our future. We’re no longer looking back. We’re no longer looking over our shoulder.”

“We have stabilized, and now it is time to grow,” Millner said. “We’re going to grow our enrollment. We’re going to grow our endowment. We’re going to raise our fundraising. We’re going to grow our faculty, and we’re going to grow the image and the reputation of Guilford College so that we will be around for another 200 years.”

Enrollment at the college has fallen to 950 students, which the college said meant an estimated $3.5 million drop in tuition revenue. But enrollment numbers are now holding steady. The college expects to retain nearly 98 percent of those students next semester.

Those enrollment numbers should be helped by SACSCOC lifting the probation, Bordewich said.

“I’m sure we can’t wait to tell all those applicants they don’t have to worry about coming to Guilford and graduating from a school that’s not accredited,” she said.

The college will hold a 2 p.m. Zoom call with faculty and staff on Wednesday, Bordewich said, in which she will discuss “how we want to invest in the people who make Guilford not only unique, but the place it needs to be, offering an educational experience that is unsurpassed.”

Assembly higher education reporter Matt Hartman contributed to this report.