EducationSaturday, November 7
Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency faces the most serious accreditation sanction
The Good Day Billings team
If you or someone you know studies at Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, here's where things stand. The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities issued the college a show cause sanction on Aug. 5, the most serious of its three sanctions. It requires the college to demonstrate why its accreditation should not be withdrawn.
The college remains accredited and open, KTVQ reports, but the accreditor ordered it to prepare teach-out plans naming other institutions that could help students continue their education. Board member Shawn Real Bird said the college has brought in a criminal investigator and a forensic auditor.
Leadership changes and a sanction have marked the time since February 2024
- Feb. 2024Board votes unanimously to remove President David Yarlott; Neva Tall Bear becomes interim.
- Feb. 2026Board removes Tall Bear and appoints Patricia Whiteman interim president.
- Aug. 5The accreditor issues a show cause sanction to the college.
- June 2027Deadline to finish all of the college's financial audits.
Sources: KTVQ, Montana Free Press
“This threat to our accreditation is extremely serious.”
- Areas to fix: board governance, leadership, safety and financial audits
- Audit deadline: June 30, 2027, for all financial audits
- Audits to finish: three years, perhaps part of a fourth
Little Big Horn College is small, and show cause is rare
- 250 to 350
- students each semester
- 70+
- full-time staff, per the National Center for Education Statistics
- 3 of 159
- NWCCU institutions with a show cause sanction since 2019
Source: Montana Free Press
Sources: KTVQ, Montana Free Press