Brewton-Parker accreditation follow-up affirmed by SACS

MOUNT VERNON — Brewton-Parker College President Steve Echols has announced that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges has accepted a BPC financial follow-up report with no additional monitoring required.

"When the school received the good news of the SACSCOC financial evaluation of BPC in December 2014, a follow-up report to be included in the five-year review was required," Echols said, noting that the report was accepted during the annual SACSCOC meeting in Atlanta in December with no recommendations, notations, or future requirements for additional reporting.

"The approval of this report is a strong endorsement of the financial health of the school," Echols said. "In our documentation to SACSCOC, there were many good things we were able to share. Among them were the following:

• Three straight years of positive gains on the operational profit and loss statement.
• Reduced debt.
• Increase in student revenue and decrease in expenses.
• Increase in net assets.
• BPC awarded a perfect financial composite score of 3.0 (the highest given) by the Department of Education."

Impressed by BPC progress

Echols said a SACSCOC representative reported scrutinizing the college's financial condition in great detail and being impressed with the progress BPC has made over the past couple of years.

"God's blessing is the answer," Echols said. "He has great things in store for our school."

Also in December 2014, Brewton-Parker College's accreditation was reaffirmed, upon appeal, to SACSCOC. BPC had been on probation largely stemming from financial stability matters and had lost its academic ranking the previous June.

Brewton-Parker College, founded in 1904, is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention.