SACSCOC restores full accreditation to Southwestern

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary “is now in full compliance with all accreditation expectations” of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) following action by the SACSCOC board on June 11, President David S. Dockery announced in a letter today to the seminary community.

The action comes after an April site visit to the seminary resulted in a recommendation to remove the sanctions, which were initially put in place in June 2023 with a “warning” status.

“Southwestern Seminary is no longer on probation for good cause but is in full adherence with SACSCOC accreditation standards,” Dockery said. “We are genuinely grateful to God to receive this good and encouraging report that all sanctions have been removed, which is an answer to the prayers of many.”

Dockery said the seminary “made concerted efforts” to follows the “wise guidance” of SACSCOC to restore its accreditation, pointing to a pattern of overspending in operational and capital budgets in 2022, as well as further back to 2019.

“The seminary has, however, chosen not to look back, but to move forward with a renewed commitment to institutional stewardship,” he said.

Dockery cited six “markers of institutional stability and health,” affirmed by SACSCOC to demonstrate the seminary’s progress: institutional culture embracing of its mission, identity, heritage, and core values; improvements in enrollment, credit hours taught, and increases in tuition revenue; decreased expenses and increased unrestricted revenue resulting a $10 million turnaround; improvement of $40 million in net assets; cash reserves and cash equivalents reaching 50 percent of the annual budget; and dramatic improvements in the institution’s Composite Financial Index, Composite Score Ratio, and bank covenant ratios, objective measures compiled by outside organizations.

“Southwestern Seminary remains one of the largest seminaries in the world and continues to be one of the best resourced seminaries among the 280 seminaries accredited by the Association of Theological Schools,” Dockery said, noting one of the seminary’s other accreditation bodies.

He praised the “team effort from across the Southwestern community to get us to this positive position” and said the seminary “must and will continue to be thoroughly committed to faithful institutional stewardship and a renewed sense of overall institutional responsibility in the days ahead.”

Dockery gave thanks to God for the institution’s improvements.

“There is no way to explain all the changes at Southwestern over the past 45 months apart from a clear recognition of God’s abundant grace and kindness to the Southwestern community, for which we are genuinely joyful (Ps 126:3),” Dockery said, citing the seminary’s theme verse for the upcoming academic year.

“As a community we join together to offer heartfelt thanks to God for his blessings and favor to Southwestern (Ps 90:17).”

Editor’s note: President Dockery’s letter to the seminary community follows.

June 11, 2026

Dear Southwestern Community:

I am pleased to let you know that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Board has affirmed that Southwestern is now in full compliance with all accreditation expectations, underscoring the recommendation of the special committee that visited the Southwestern campus on April 6-8, 2026. Southwestern Seminary is no longer on probation for good cause but is in full adherence with SACSCOC accreditation standards. We are genuinely grateful to God to receive this good and encouraging report that all sanctions have been removed, which is an answer to the prayers of many. It was acknowledged that Southwestern had followed through on the recommendations received from SACSCOC leadership over the past three years, which included increasing net tuition, increasing auxiliary revenue, increasing operating revenue overall, decreasing personnel expenses and overall operating expenses; addressing depreciation, finding additional revenue streams, and selling property. Over the past three years, Southwestern has made concerted efforts to follow each aspect of this wise guidance.

As you are all aware, expenses exceeded revenue in operational and capital budgets in 2022. When the July 31, 2022, audit was finalized during the fall 2022 semester, the board addressed the concerns related to an operating loss of ($8.9M) and a decrease in net assets of ($15.3M) by deciding to move the institution in a new direction. Similar challenges can be traced back to at least the 2019 fiscal year when the operational losses for the institution were ($9.8M) and net assets showed a decline of ($8.9M). The seminary has, however, chosen not to look back, but to move forward with a renewed commitment to institutional stewardship.

Beginning in September of 2022, several important steps began to take place to move the institution toward institutional stability. The prioritization of institutional stewardship and financial oversight have been a key aspect of each step along the way to ensure that the academic mission of Southwestern Seminary can be carried out in a way that is adequately resourced and delivered in a quality manner.

The following markers of institutional stability and health related to SACSCOC Standards 13.1 (Financial Resources) and 13.3 (Financial Responsibilities) were reaffirmed, providing indicators of the overall institutional progress that has been made.

• Progress continues to be made related to institutional culture as a deepening embrace of Southwestern’s mission, identity, heritage, and core values.
• Since the 2022 year, the total non-duplicating annual headcount has increased, FTE has grown, and the number of annual credit hours taught has increased, resulting in an increase in tuition revenue as well as a significant increase in net tuition revenue.
• From 2022 to 2025, the combination of increased unrestricted revenue and decreased expenses totaled nearly $10 million.
• Unrestricted net assets have increased more than $40 million since the end of the 2022 fiscal year.
• Cash reserves and cash equivalents now total about 50% of the annual budget.
• The Composite Financial Index moved from at at-risk calculation of less than -0.6 in 2022 to a strong score of 4.1 at the conclusion of the 2025 year, with an enhanced score expected for 2026. The Composite Score Ratio was also calculated to be 3.0 for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2025, which is the highest score possible for this index. Southwestern’s bank covenant ratios also have shown measurable improvements.

Southwestern Seminary remains one of the largest seminaries in the world and continues to be one of the best resourced seminaries among the 280 seminaries accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. The faculty is united in its mission and its care for students. The Board, administration, faculty, staff, and students are genuinely hopeful about the opportunities for students to continue to be strengthened through the ongoing and dedicated efforts across the campus and among the Southwestern constituencies.

The Lord has used a team effort from across the Southwestern community to get us to this positive position. The Southwestern community must and will continue to be thoroughly committed to faithful institutional stewardship and a renewed sense of overall institutional responsibility in the days ahead. The Lord has led us to a genuine place of dependence on him, accompanied by a dedication to prayer and trust, which we long to see continued in the coming months and years. There is no way to explain all the changes at Southwestern over the past 45 months apart from a clear recognition of God’s abundant grace and kindness to the Southwestern community, for which we are genuinely joyful (Ps 126:3).

We are deeply grateful for the changes in institutional culture, in the Board’s careful oversight of the institution, and for the markers of progress that have been made over the past 45 months. While the SACSCOC sanctions were challenging for us, they served to spur us toward faithful institutional stewardship, a pattern we believe not only to be in place across the campus at Southwestern Seminary at this time, but a pattern that must continue to guide the seminary forward toward institutional health and flourishing in the future. As a community we join together to offer heartfelt thanks to God for his blessings and favor to Southwestern (Ps 90:17).

Faithfully,

David