It appears a federal investigation is leading to a shake up at a religious college in West Bloomfield.
The Michigan Jewish Institute offers associate and baccalaureate degrees in technology, business, or Judaic studies. Most of its classes are online. Many of its students rely on Federal Pell Grants.
Now, the school has been cut off from such federal student aid programs.
The Michigan Jewish Institute got a letter from the U.S. Department of Education notifying the school it was denying its recertification, effective last Monday.
Recertification is the process used by the Department to renew a school’s eligibility to participate in the federal student aid programs such as the Pell Grants. This severely impacts the school’s funding.
In a statement the Michigan Jewish Institute called the decision "extremely harmful, unfair, inaccurate and arbitrary and capricious.”
MJI said it intends to challenge the decision. The Institute provides classes to some local high school students. The school says the recertification denial will not impact those dual enrollment students.
