State auditor investigates unauthorized campus

DURHAM -- The state Auditor's Office is looking into the unauthorized N.C. Central University satellite campus that operated in suburban Atlanta for four years before being shut down this summer.

The investigation comes with the UNC system's blessing.

"We are coordinating with the university system on an investigation into NCCU's unauthorized Atlanta campus at the University system's request," said Les Merritt, the state auditor, in an e-mail response to a question from The News & Observer.

In taking a hard look at the details of the unauthorized campus, Merritt will have some company. NCCU and UNC system officials have worked for months to iron out all the wrinkles left by the unapproved venture. The satellite was housed at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lithonia, Ga., whose pastor is Eddie Long, an NCCU trustee.

Last week, UNC system President Erskine Bowles said he expects the university will have to repay federal financial aid money that NCCU received from the Department of Education and distributed to students in the New Birth program.

The program was not recognized by the the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, NCCU's accrediting agency, and thus was not eligible for federal financial aid money. The total tab has not been made public.

In briefing the UNC system's governing board on the still-unfolding saga last week, Bowles mentioned that he has kept Merritt's office abreast of his investigation. He has pledged to be fully transparent once his office sorts through the details.

The New Birth program was never approved by NCCU trustees or by the UNC system's board, and the origins of the program are still unclear. Its discovery set off a scramble this summer as officials looked for similar gaffes at other public university campuses.

Bowles said last week that his office has examined about 400 other off-site degree programs offered by UNC system campuses and has turned up a few small issues but nothing even "remotely comparable."

The New Birth campus offered undergraduate degrees in criminal justice, business administration and hospitality and tourism, and 25 students graduated. There is still some question whether their degrees have the same value as those of regular NCCU students.