Usually they don't have to. On the last day of the annual SACS meeting, there is a ritualistic reading of accreditation findings. The saddest are the institutions -- usually small private colleges -- that are cited for having insufficient funds to sustain an educational program. I've never heard a public institution being cited for that, although more than a few get called down for mismanagement or insufficient accounting controls.

Don't fret. USM's books will be thoroughly sanitized before the self study... You can bank on it.

Now, if you are talking about moral or ethical bankruptcy...