Tax Documents Show B-CU Losses Mounting to $17.8 Million

For more than two years, a small number of alumni and former trustees at Bethune-Cookman University have been raising questions about the school’s finances — questions that have been swatted away as inconsequential by board members and President Edison Jackson.  But B-CU’s most recent tax returns, which covers the period from July 2015 to June 2016, paint a grim picture of the institution’s finances, including a nearly $18 million operating loss that’s almost 12 times the loss recorded in the previous year.  Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings this week issued a downgrade report for the second time in six months on debt held by B-CU, citing its “significant operating loss” and “decline in reserves.”