Cuesta College has retained its accreditation but is not yet completely free of sanctions by the agency that oversees community colleges.

In a news conference Thursday morning, Cuesta officials said the college has been taken out of the “show cause” status. That means Cuesta has met most of the demands of accreditation.

Cuesta will now be placed on a warning status, the least serious form of sanction.

A year ago the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges told Cuesta it needed to fix insufficiencies in three areas: planning and assessment, technology resources, and financial planning and stability. If it failed to do so, the school’s accreditation would be revoked.

The panel gave Cuesta the "show cause" status, meaning the college had to show it could meet the demands of accreditation.

The years-long struggle to fix several deficiencies identified by the commission came at a cost: lower enrollment, difficulty recruiting applicants and damaged morale.

Cuesta must now gear up to face another accreditation review in 2014. Colleges are evaluated by the accrediting commission every six years.