Southeastern University was a private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate institution of higher education located in southwestern Washington, D.C. The university lost its accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education on August 31, 2009. The Commission reported that the college lacked rigor and was losing faculty, enrollment and financial stability. The 130-year-old school ceased offering classes after an extended summer session in 2009. The closure was very likely linked to the Great Recession.
Southeastern University was established by YMCA and chartered by an Act of Congress in 1879. It had degree programs in Criminal Justice, Child Development, Public Administration, Business Management, Accounting, Finance, Liberal Studies, Computer Science, and Allied Health, a program initiated in 2006 at Greater Southeast Community Hospital. There were also certificate programs in entrepreneurship, property management, real estate, Web development, and others. It was a member of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area but lost this affiliation after the fall 2009 semester.Through the spring of 2009, Southeastern University had a total enrollment of about 870 students, with 222 of those students pursuing postgraduate degrees. About 77% were locally based, and a majority were female, but there was also a significant international enrollment. International enrollment had been in decline after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when the student population shifted from international students to primarily low-income District residents. The university employed approximately 140 faculty and staff before the university was notified of its loss of accreditation.