OAKLAND CITY, Ind. (WFIE) – Oakland City University has voluntarily resigned its accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission.
According to a public disclosure notice posted Friday by the Higher Learning Commission, the resignation will take effect June 30, 2027.
On that date, the university’s status will switch to “inactive,” meaning the institution will no longer be accredited.
The notice states that credits and degrees earned by students prior to June 30, 2027, will remain accredited. It says that in most cases, other colleges and universities will continue to accept those credits in transfer or for admission into higher degree programs, though transfer policies vary by institution.
HLC says that OCU has established approved teach-out agreements with the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville and Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
OCU will continue to retain student records and process transcript requests. The notice also states that students with federal loans may be eligible to pursue a closed school student loan discharge.
The resignation follows months of escalating financial problems at the university.
In April, OCU filed a WARN notice with the state warning of possible mass layoffs due to continued financial challenges. By May, funding issues and banking delays left faculty and staff without paychecks.
Later that month, university officials laid off more than 100 employees and suspended all undergraduate programs for the 2026–27 academic year.
At the time, university leadership told students and staff that undergraduate operations were expected to resume in the fall of 2027 following the anticipated sale of a carbon capture patent. However, fall classes began in August with just 61 students enrolled.
In July, a group of current and former employees filed a formal complaint with the Higher Learning Commission, citing a dozen alleged violations that included months of unpaid wages, lapsed life insurance policies, nonpayment of vendors, and a lack of approved teach-out plans at the start of program suspensions.
The accreditation update comes as the university continues trying to resolve outstanding payroll owed to former staff.
Earlier this week, former workers told 14 News that university leadership had “gone silent” regarding unpaid compensation dating back to the spring. Following those reports, OCU posted an updated timeline stating that employees are scheduled to receive a third round of missed payroll on Friday, Sept. 25, with final payments for nine-month staff and faculty expected by early October.
14 News has reached out to OCU President Dr. Ron Dempsey on what the voluntary resignation of accreditation means for the university. He told us that the OCU board “may choose to seek reinstatement of accreditation through HLC or they may choose to seek accreditation through a different accrediting body approved by the federal government.”
You can see the full notice issued by the Higher Learning Commission on Friday by clicking here.
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