Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s accreditation is restored, ending three years of being under a warning status with its regional academic accreditor, school officials said Thursday.
President David S. Dockery announced in a statement on the school’s website that the seminary “is now in full compliance with all accreditation expectations” of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges following action by the accreditation board on June 11, Dockery said.
Warnings were placed on the seminary in June 2023 following a report released by school officials revealing the institution had accumulated a $140 million shortfall between 2002 and 2022. School leaders have been pushing ever since to get the sanctions removed and improve the institution’s finances through property sales and increasing net assets.
“We are genuinely grateful to God to receive this good and encouraging report that all sanctions have been removed, which is an answer to the prayers of many,” Dockery said.
Dockery gave thanks to God and the seminary community for the institution’s improvements and said the school “must and will continue to be thoroughly committed to faithful institutional stewardship and a renewed sense of overall institutional responsibility in the days ahead.”
“The Lord has used a team effort from across the Southwestern community to get us to this positive position,” Dockery said. “The Southwestern community must and will continue to be thoroughly committed to faithful institutional stewardship and a renewed sense of overall institutional responsibility in the days ahead.”
The removal of sanctions came after accreditors signaled that might happen following an April visit to the school.
The seminary “made concerted efforts” to follow guidance from regional accreditors, including by increasing net tuition, auxiliary revenue and overall operating revenue, and decreasing personnel expenses and overall operating expenses, according to the statement.
In August 2023, Fort Worth City Council approved an $11 million purchase of 15 acres of the Carroll Park Apartments, previously used for seminary student housing.
The property sale allowed the school to pay off $6.1 million in short-term debt, Dockery said in a March 2024 statement. Another $3.4 million from the sale was set aside in a “quasi-endowment account” that requires board approval to be used, while the remaining $3 million has been set aside in reserves.
Unrestricted net assets have increased more than $40 million since the end of the 2022 fiscal year. Cash reserves and cash equivalents now total about 50% of the annual budget, Dockery said in his Thursday statement.
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
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