[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 11/23/02 ] Life U. must wait at least 2 years for reaccreditation By MARY MacDONALD and MIA TAYLOR Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writers The incoming Life University president delivered some devastating news Friday in his first meeting with students: The school will have to wait two years before applying to restore its chiropractic accreditation. President Ben DeSpain reassured students the Marietta university has the financial depth to survive several years, regardless of plunging enrollment. But he bluntly advised advanced students to consider other options, including transferring to another, accredited chiropractic college. Chiropractic enrollment dropped to 700 students this week, down from 1,400 last month and 2,600 in June, when the Arizona-based Council on Chiropractic Education stripped the program of its accreditation. The university lost its appeal of that decision last month. DeSpain, hired by university trustees Tuesday, said he knew the university faced a lengthy wait for accreditation because he had spoken with the accrediting council. "Let's drop the other shoe today," he said Friday. "Let people know it is a long haul." DeSpain broke the news to several hundred students in an assembly, causing an immediate silence. The loss of accreditation threatens the future of an institution that contributes about $100 million a year to the Cobb County economy. The loss of nearly 2,000 students in little more than five months has already hurt small businesses that line the entrance to the campus. "I used to have a bunch of them for dinner. Now, nobody," said Fida Merhi, a waitress for 20 years at the nearby Waffle House. "I've lost half of them." In rejecting Life University's application, the chiropractic council on Wednesday told the university that its rules require unaccredited programs to comply with accepted standards for two consecutive years. That will force the school to wait until June 2004 to reapply for accreditation, which could come at the earliest in January 2005, said DeSpain. The university will ask the accrediting council to reconsider its decision. University trustees hired DeSpain, an academic dean at the University of Tennessee at Martin, to replace Sid Williams, Life founder and president. Williams had to retire in July after the loss of accreditation. After talking with students and reviewing enrollment records, DeSpain said he feels confident the university will keep enough chiropractic students who are just beginning the 3 1/2 year program. Of the 700 chiropractic students, about 10 percent started the program this quarter. Most of the remaining chiropractic students have been at the school less than two years, DeSpain said. Life also has about 700 students who are enrolled in nonchiropractic bachelor's and master's degree programs. Without accreditation of the chiropractic program, Life graduates cannot get a license to practice in most states. Most students graduate from the $58,000 program with substantial debt to repay. Chiropractic student Vince Haynes said he had little choice but to leave. "I'd be that student who would have stayed if there was any glimmer of hope," said the 30-year-old Texan. "But if someone told me it's a two-year wait? Yeah, I'm going to leave." Haynes predicted many of his fellow students will do the same, if only because they are concerned about the school's viability. "How can they get their program in order if no one is here?" he asked. The university has chopped nearly $10 million from its $38 million budget this year, and interim President Michael Schmidt said Friday 50 employees will lose their jobs in December. The cuts will reach into the faculty for the first time. A report released by Moody's Investors Service this month, which Schmidt described as accurate, said the university has cash investments of $16 million, down from $19 million a year ago, and land and buildings worth $77 million. The rating service recently downgraded Life's bond rating, citing severe enrollment declines that threaten its financial viability, the report states. The university faces renewed scrutiny in December from a regional accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. DeSpain said he expects the university will keep its accredited status, albeit through probation. Life University can essentially ride out the loss of chiropractic accreditation by cutting its budget to match enrollment, then regrow the program once accreditation is restored, DeSpain said. Some students may stay only because their lives are rooted in the region. Mary Ellen Burton, 39, has a home with a mortgage and a job waiting for her at a chiropractic clinic. She moved to Atlanta in 1986 and doesn't want to leave with just a year to go to graduation. "It is a gamble," she said Friday. "But if I transfer, I'm going to be in school somewhere else for two years." She is going to stay and stretch her course work for as long as she can. She is gambling that enough students stay to keep the university going. "I don't believe they would have hired a president of this caliber to shut it down."