Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday, a voluntary bankruptcy filing that comes as the school moves to end its long fight over accreditation. The university said it will keep operating during the bankruptcy process and will no longer continue litigation related to its accreditation status.
The filing shows the university owes between $50 million and $100 million to creditors, including $14.4 million to the Internal Revenue Service, and lists between 200 and 999 creditors. The school said the bankruptcy is meant to strengthen its financial foundation while it focuses on students, teach-out agreements, non-degree certificates, apprenticeship programs and a path back to reaccreditation.
Interim President Dr. Jennie Ward Robinson stepped down as part of the changes announced Tuesday, and Dr. Verjanis Peoples is taking over in her place. The filings also show assets valued between $1 million and $500 million. Duke Energy confirmed electrical service remains active at the campus.
The move follows more than two years of financial strain and legal maneuvering over accreditation. In August, Saint Augustine's won an injunction allowing it to keep accreditation temporarily and proceed with the fall semester, after the accrediting agency voted to revoke that status. But the university said its accreditation is now set to conclude on May 15, and the bankruptcy filing signals it has chosen to put the court fight aside.
That shift drew mixed reactions from supporters who had pressed for a different outcome. Steve Williams, who has been among the voices surrounding the school’s struggle, called the situation “the theft of the university” and said alumni had been “screaming for help.” Asked what comes next, he said: “I don't know.”
Bankruptcy specialists said Chapter 11 can give a school breathing room while it reorganizes. David Mills said the process is designed to let institutions like Saint Augustine's reorganize debt, shed unprofitable leases and contracts, and restructure, though he added that filing does not automatically mean liquidation or closure. For Saint Augustine's, the hard question is no longer whether it can keep fighting in court. It is whether it can use Chapter 11 to survive long enough to rebuild around its students before May 15 arrives.
