Jul 23, 2013 10:40 AM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

City College of San Francisco (CCSF) has announced it will offer free courses to the community this fall, despite being set to lose its accreditation in a year, Campus Reform reported.

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) announced on July 6 that CCSF would lose its accreditation on July 31, 2014 for poor financial practice. The school has until July 31 this year to appeal the decision.

"City College of San Francisco has still not addressed, and appears to lack the capacity to address, the many financial management deficiencies identified by the 2012 Evaluation Team Report," according to a letter released by the ACCJC announcing the decision.

The free classes offered this fall include "Weaving Tapestry," "Quiltmaking," "Baking and Pastry," "Tai Chi for Health" and "Arts and Crafts for Older Adults."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the free classes cost the school $400 thousand per year.

Last August, the Bay Citizen reported the ACCJC warned the school about its spending habits and criticized CCSF for spending 92 percent of its budget on salaries and benefits.

A draft of the CCSF's 2012-2013 budget, dated June 28, shows an increase of $338,474 from last year.

Hosting more than 85,000 students, CCSF is the largest school in California and those students could lose federal financial aid and transfer credits if the school loses accreditation.

The ACCJC had made 14 recommendations to the school, reported the Huffington Post, and the school had only addressed two. Barbara Beno, ACCJC president, said the decision was not final and the school could reverse the decision through an appeal and an overhaul. In early July, nearly 200 CCSF community members marched in protest to the decision.

"Recent action by the state Chancellor's Office may help the college change its approach and be able to meet the same standards as 133 other institutions in the Western Region," Beno said. "The protestors need to join the many people at City College working towards this end."

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