photo by: Shawn Valverde

Haskell Indian Nations University is pictured on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024.

The Higher Learning Commission has changed Haskell Indian Nations University’s accreditation status from “accredited” to “accredited on notice,” and it says the school is “at risk of being out of compliance” with its standards, according to a notice posted on the HLC’s website Wednesday.

The notice from the HLC, which provides accreditation to post-secondary education institutions like colleges and universities across the central part of the country, said Haskell’s accreditation status had been changed effective June 26.

The notice said that Haskell was “at risk of being out of compliance” with several accreditation criteria. It listed five, without giving further specifics on what each one meant or what Haskell needed to improve on: “Academic offerings appropriate to higher education,” “Sufficiency of faculty and staff,” “Program review,” “Assessment of student learning” and “Systematic and integrated planning and improvement.”

Additionally, the HLC “concluded the institution does not meet” what it called an “assumed practice” of “Effective systems for collecting and analyzing data.”

Being “accredited on notice” is a public sanction that allows the institution a period of time to “resolve the areas of concern,” according to the notice. That period lasts two years, and while on notice, the institution remains accredited. At the end of the two-year period, the HLC can move the school back to “accredited” if it “has demonstrated that it is no longer at risk of being out of compliance” with the accreditation criteria.

If the school is still considered at risk or is found out of compliance, the HLC can take further action, including extending the notice period, placing the institution on probation or even withdrawing accreditation.

The notice did not specify what steps Haskell needed to take, other than that Haskell would need to host a visit from the HLC no later than December 2026 to provide evidence that the concerns were being addressed.

Students thinking of transferring out of Haskell to another school or applying to a graduate program should contact colleges they are thinking of applying for to learn whether the change in accreditation status will affect them, the notice said.

“In most cases, other colleges and universities will continue to accept the institution’s credits in transfer or for admission to a higher degree program,” the notice said, but it also noted that each university sets its own policies.

Haskell’s most recent accreditation review began on Dec. 2, 2024, and the HLC previously confirmed that it was still going on as of May 23, as the Journal-World reported. The reviews normally take place every 10 years.

In recent months, Haskell’s campus has been in turmoil as a large percentage of its employees were laid off in February as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to slash the federal workforce. Many of those employees have since been reinstated, but uncertainty continues to plague the university. Additionally, the Trump administration has proposed cutting funding for tribal colleges and universities by nearly 90% in its 2026 budget proposal, a move the Faculty Senate of Haskell warned would “devastate” the university to the point it could not function, as the Journal-World reported.

Haskell currently has an interim president — Mackie Moore — leading the school after the abrupt departure of former president Frank Arpan, who announced his resignation in May.