Florida A & M University has been placed on probation for six months by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional accrediting body that oversees the public institution. The commission on colleges, during its bi-annual meeting in Ponte Vedra Thursday, concluded that FAMU is in violation of 10 accrediting standards dealing with financial controls, leadership, inventory tracking, and controls over areas like sponsored research and financial aid.

The probation is the worst of two actions the commission can take against a university, and if a college does not clean up its act within the probationary period, it can lose its accreditation altogether, said Tom Benberg, vice president and chief of staff for the SACS commission on colleges. A university that loses accreditation is no longer eligible for federal financial aid for its students. The probation comes just weeks before new FAMU president James Ammons takes over at his long-troubled alma mater.

- Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler, Times higher ed reporter