Marin County's only four-year university faces a two-year deadline to fix its finances or risk losing accreditation.
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges placed Dominican University of California on formal "warning" status on July 9, citing years of declining enrollment and a $2.6 million structural deficit. The San Rafael school has until June 30, 2028, to correct the problems or face further sanctions, up to and including loss of accreditation.
For the university's 2,616 students, the warning does not change their status. Accreditation continues during the warning period, and students remain eligible for federal and state financial aid.
"We know we are not in imminent danger of collapse," President Nicola Pitchford said July 18. "But we do agree with the commission that we absolutely have to engineer change and do it now."
What the commission found
The commission voted to issue the warning at its June 26 meeting. WASC commission president A. Maria Toyoda wrote in a formal notification letter to Pitchford that Dominican "has experienced multiple years of declining enrollment and deteriorating finances resulting in ongoing operating deficits that endanger the financial sustainability of the institution."
Dominican's 2025 financial statements showed about $92 million in revenue against $94.6 million in expenses. Undergraduate enrollment has dropped nearly 12% since 2021, a loss of about 150 full-time students, according to Pitchford. The school has already cut 17 academic programs, including applied computer sciences and the LINES Ballet BFA program, which stopped accepting new students in fall 2025.
The accreditor praised Dominican's teaching, graduation rates, and student success. The warning targets finances alone.
What comes next
The commission is requiring Dominican to file a "teach-out" plan by Nov. 1, 2026. The plan would outline how students could transfer to other colleges if the school were to close. Pitchford said there are "no plans to close."
Dominican's response strategy includes completing a health and community wellbeing campus plan within 90 days, strengthening programs for nurses, physician assistants, and occupational therapists, and increasing fundraising. Pitchford cited demographic research showing Marin is a "rapidly graying community" with growing demand for healthcare workers.
The university also lost $3.1 million in federal grants in 2025. The funding was tied to Dominican's 2022 designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution; the Marin Independent Journal reported the cuts were seen as targeting colleges with large minority populations.
A wider trend
Dominican is not alone. Four other California schools carry the same WASC warning: Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, Academy of Art University in San Francisco, La Sierra University in Riverside, and Jessup University in Rocklin. WASC accredits 178 four-year institutions in California.
Mary Jane Burke, a 1974 Dominican graduate, former Marin County superintendent of schools, and member of the university's board of trustees, pointed to statewide demographics. California's K-12 public schools enrolled about 75,000 fewer students than the prior year, she said, and enrollment has fallen by 429,000 students over the past decade.
Trustee David Wain Coon, a former College of Marin president, said COM went through its own accreditation warning in 2012-13. He called that experience "a rallying point for the college and the impetus for some tough conversations and decisions."
Dominican must demonstrate sufficient progress by June 30, 2028. If it does not, WASC will either revoke accreditation or grant a maximum two-year extension.
