Birmingham-Southern College says it has filed a lawsuit against the Alabama State Treasurer for denying it $30 million in requested bailout funding.

This summer, the small liberal arts college in Birmingham was on the brink of closure, but decided to stay open. And Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill that would create a new loan program for struggling public and private universities.

Colleges could apply for temporary public funds through the state treasurer, so long as they submitted a plan to repay the money. The program was initially funded with $30 million, which was expected to go to the college.

In a letter to the campus community Wednesday, Birmingham-Southern officials said the college filed a lawsuit in Montgomery County Circuit Court to compel the treasurer, Young Boozer III, to execute the program.

“Treasurer Boozer has denied BSC’s application for funding through the Distressed Institutions of Higher Learning Revolving Loan Fund,” the letter said. “This stunning news came this morning after more than a year of discussions with him beginning in August 2022, in which at no time did he say or signal that BSC would not receive the bridge funding we have worked so hard to secure.”

The news comes after a year of negotiations between Birmingham-Southern officials and state and local lawmakers. Leaders initially asked for a one-time, $37.5 million bailout, including $30 million from state education and pandemic relief funds. Ivey opposed the move, however, stating that she “had no plans to use the taxpayers’ public funds to bail out a private college.”

In the last few days of the legislative session, however, Birmingham Southern officials announced plans to keep the college open, citing “encouraging” news from the legislature. Lawmakers announced shortly after that they would create a loan program to allow distressed colleges to apply for temporary state funds.