Benedict had been using an old hotel as a dorm, but the county fire marshal issued an evacuation order last week, saying the building was an immediate threat to the life and safety of the students.

The Education Department notified Benedict in April that it missed the standards set for financial responsibility under the federal financial aid program. The school, which is up for re-accreditation next year, scored 1.3 out of a possible 3.0 on a test of financial fitness. Colleges and universities must score at least a 1.5 to be judged “responsible.”

Benedict is one of 114 private, nonprofit colleges in the United States that failed to pass the federal government’s financial aid test. In South Carolina,