Unlike some of the folks around here who “know” just about everything (who knew what, who told whom, when it happened, where it happened, ad naseum. Someone even claimed to KNOW what Dottie Sandusky knew. Amazing.), I THINK a large part of the accreditation review involves financial stability. The implication is that with the heavy fines that are coming down (and we haven’t even gotten to civil suits, yet), there’s some concern about financial collapse.
Of course, with this kind of “announcement” it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
That’s what I THINK - not claiming to be an expert.
I hadn't considered the financial angle. The engineering school that I attended eventually went bankrupt. It was accredited right up until the end. Given Pennsylvania State Universities endowments, I don't think that this is a financial problem that they can't weather. In fact the way the fines are being levied, I'm not sure that the Athletic Department is even going to be seriously hurt.