⚠ Distressed Institution — Filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2026 and lost SACSCOC accreditation (effective May 2026), ending degree programs. Its planned pivot to non-degree certificates stalled and it canceled all fall 2026 classes; a bankruptcy judge called it "essentially closed." It has not formally closed and is moving to sell or redevelop campus land in Chapter 11.
Saint Augustine's University
Saint Augustine's University is a private HBCU in Raleigh, North Carolina, founded in 1867 by the Episcopal Church's Freedmen's Commission. One of the oldest HBCUs in the South, it lost its SACSCOC regional accreditation in December 2023 and fought for years to keep it. In April 2026 the university filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ended that fight (accreditation lapsing effective May 2026), and ceased degree-granting programs — while insisting it will not close, pivoting instead to non-degree certificate and apprenticeship programs as it seeks an eventual path back to accreditation.
- Founded
- 1867
- Type
- Private liberal arts university
- Location
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Accreditation
- Lost SACSCOC accreditation effective May 2026; Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed April 2026
- Interim President
- Verjanis A. Peoples (named April 2026)
- Enrollment
- ≈150 (2025–26), reportedly falling further to ~50 by mid-2026; down from ~1,000 in 2017; all classes online
- Colors
- Blue and gold
- Mascot
- Falcons
- Status
- Distressed
- Website
- www.st-aug.edu
Current Status
On April 28, 2026, Saint Augustine's University announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure its finances and end its multi-year court fight to retain accreditation from SACSCOC. The litigation that had allowed enrolled students to keep earning accredited degrees ended effective May 15, 2026; students completing coursework before that date received degrees from an accredited institution, while those still mid-program were directed to teach-out transfer agreements with other colleges. The Board simultaneously named Verjanis A. Peoples interim president. The university insists it is not closing: after May 15 it intends to focus on non-degree certificates and apprenticeship programs while building a pathway toward reaccreditation. Whether a 158-year-old institution can survive the simultaneous loss of accreditation, federal student aid eligibility, and its degree-granting mission remains a profound open question — but as of mid-2026 its leadership rejects the framing of closure. In June 2026 the CIAA — the historically Black athletic conference in which the university had competed — removed Saint Augustine's from membership for continued noncompliance with conference requirements, formalizing the collapse of its athletics program alongside its academic one.
That pivot stalled almost at once. The eight online, non-degree certificate and apprenticeship programs the university had planned to launch in September 2026 — in fields including computer programming, artificial intelligence, and public health, priced between $1,100 and $4,500 — were shelved before a single student enrolled, after the presiding bankruptcy judge, David Warren, questioned whether the institution could deliver on those promises and whether it should spend scarce resources on new instruction during Chapter 11. Warren described the university as "essentially closed." Saint Augustine's canceled all classes for the fall 2026 term to cut payroll and other costs, leaving its roughly 105-acre Raleigh campus without enrolled students or scheduled instruction. In the same proceedings the university moved to retain the real-estate firm Avison Young to advise on redeveloping or selling campus land — the principal collateral for the emergency financing it was drawing from the Self-Help Ventures Fund — over objections from the lender and the bankruptcy administrator, who called the proposed arrangement premature. Former MIT chancellor Phillip L. Clay agreed to advise the board on a pro bono basis. As of October 2026 the university had neither resumed instruction nor formally closed; its survival now turns almost entirely on the outcome of the bankruptcy.
History
Saint Augustine's University was founded on January 7, 1867, by the Episcopal Church's Freedmen's Commission — just two years after the end of the Civil War. It was established in Raleigh, North Carolina, to provide education to formerly enslaved people, opening initially in a house behind Christ Church. The institution grew steadily through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eventually expanding into a full liberal arts college and then a university.
For over a century, Saint Augustine's was a cornerstone of Black higher education in the Research Triangle. It operated alongside Shaw University — the oldest HBCU in the South, just blocks away in Raleigh — serving a community of students who could not access the segregated University of North Carolina system. The university produced graduates who became lawyers, doctors, educators, clergy, and public servants across North Carolina and beyond.
Financial difficulties accumulated over the 2010s. Enrollment declined, deferred maintenance mounted, and the university's leadership faced scrutiny over spending decisions. A faculty union was formed in 2022, a rare step at an HBCU, reflecting the depth of internal tension. SACSCOC placed the university on sanction and then on probation before withdrawing accreditation in December 2023.
The university sought legal injunctions to remain open while pursuing an appeal, securing continued operation through the 2025–26 academic year, during which all classes moved online and enrollment fell to roughly 150 — down from nearly 1,000 in 2017. In April 2026 the Board concluded that continued litigation "would not be a prudent use of resources," announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, named Verjanis A. Peoples interim president, and ended the accreditation fight effective May 15, 2026 — while maintaining that the institution would continue in a non-degree form rather than close outright.
Significance
Saint Augustine's University sits next door, effectively, to Shaw University — the oldest HBCU in the South. Their shared geography in Raleigh's historically Black northeast corridor represents a density of Black institutional history that is almost without parallel outside of Atlanta. The potential loss of Saint Augustine's removes one of two pillars of that corridor.
The Episcopal Church connection is significant. Saint Augustine's is the flagship institution of Episcopal HBCU history — a tradition that also included Saint Paul's College in Virginia, which closed in 2013. With the closure of Saint Paul's, Saint Augustine's and Voorhees University in South Carolina became the two remaining historically Black institutions with Episcopal roots; both have received several million dollars from the Episcopal Church in recent years, including through its Absalom Jones Fund. The loss of Saint Augustine's degree-granting mission sharply narrows the Episcopal Church's already-thin presence in HBCU education, a tradition stretching back to the immediate post-Civil War period.
Unlike Morris Brown — whose crisis stemmed from a single act of fraud — Saint Augustine's decline reflects structural forces: declining enrollment, inadequate endowment, deferred capital investment, and governance failures that accumulated over years. It is, in this sense, a cautionary tale about the systemic underfunding of small private HBCUs and the speed with which that underfunding can become irreversible.
The university's story is still unfolding as of 2026. This profile will be updated as events develop. If you have information relevant to the ongoing situation, please contact us at corrections@black-history.com.
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Cite this page
- MLA
- “Saint Augustine's University — HBCU Wiki.” Black-History.com, 30 Sept. 2026, https://black-history.com/hbcu/saint-augustines/.
- APA
- Black-History.com Editors. (2026, September 30). Saint Augustine's University — HBCU Wiki. Black-History.com. https://black-history.com/hbcu/saint-augustines/
- Chicago
- Black-History.com Editors. “Saint Augustine's University — HBCU Wiki.” Black-History.com. September 30, 2026. https://black-history.com/hbcu/saint-augustines/.