The Middle States Commission on Higher Education has warned Penn State about the status of its accreditation, due to the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The commission has instructed the university to turn in a report by September 30, after which it will investigate and create its own report. The commission could then decide to issue a punishment of probation, and Penn State's accreditation would then come into question.
At least outwardly, Penn State doesn't sound particularly concerned.
"It is critical to emphasize that Middle States does not issue a warning unless the commission believes that an institution has the capacity to make appropriate improvements within a reasonable period and then sustain itself to stay in compliance," Blannie Bowen, vice provost for academic affairs, said in a press release. "This certainly is true for Penn State. We're confident that our monitoring report and the site visit will confirm this to the commission."
I haven't been strongly opposed to many of the ways Penn State and its football program have already been punished, but losing its accreditation would seem to be unfair to the enormous number of Penn State students who have nothing to do with the scandal. It's hard to believe the commission would try to punish the university that way.
For more on Penn State, check out Black Shoe Diaries.