The regional accrediting agency has put Penn state on warning saying its status 'is in jeopardy' with regard to the issues surrounding the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. The disclosure was made by the agency and the school Monday.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the accreditation agency of the universities in the Mid-Atlantic region, has based its decision on the information obtained through the Louis Freeh report on the university's handling of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse of children and the consent decree into which the university entered with the NCAA, reports USA Today.

The unprecedented NCAA sanctions included a fine of $60 million, voiding its football victories for the past 14 seasons, banning it from lucrative post-season games for four years and cut the number of scholarships available to players. Sandusky was convicted in June of 45 child sexual abuse counts.

The accreditation must be maintained by the school to continue receiving federal funds and to retain NCAA membership. The warning does not immediately jeopardize its status.

In a definition included in its public disclosure statement regarding Penn State, the commission states that when it warns a school, "It believes that, although the institution is out of compliance [with the commission's accreditation standards], the institution has the capacity both to make appropriate improvements within a reasonable period and to sustain itself in the long term."

To retain its accreditation Penn state must submit a report to the commission by Sept. 30 that includes information about its progress toward compliance with the commission's standards and about "the institution's capacity and plans for addressing financial obligations that will or may result from the investigation and related settlements, etc.," according to the public disclosure statement.

A commission team will then visit the school and make a report to which Penn State will be able to respond before the commission reconsiders the school's status.

"We certainly understand the concerns that Middle States has raised, but I am confident that we will satisfy those concerns," Blannie Bowen, Penn State's vice provost for academic affairs and accrediting liaison officer, said in a school news release.