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It has been two decades since Morris Brown College held full accreditation status, and this week the college makes history as the first school in the country to regain accreditation and funding after 20 years.

The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), voted to grant the college full accreditation this past Tuesday. Reaccreditation means that students can now receive federal loans and pell grants.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools revoked the schools’ accreditation status in 2002 because of expanding debt and mismanagement of funds and taxes. There were only 50 students enrolled in the college last year.

Morris Brown College has met the requirements for the TRACS regarding the school’s curriculum and fundraising strategy.

The college, which has been a key part of Atlanta’s history still faces an uphill battle, as most of the 47-acre campus has been sold off, but the school is facing a new and crucial chapter.

“Morris Brown College just made history,” the school’s President, Dr. Kevin James, told the AJC in a telephone interview. “We’re excited about it. A lot of people had written us off. But due to a lot of hard work and dedication, we were able to regain our accreditation.”

The private liberal arts school was founded in 1881 and was the first institution created for and by Black people in the state of Georgia.

“Morris Brown College is unique to the Atlanta experience when we talk about historically Black colleges and universities,” Maurice Hobson, a civil rights and Atlanta scholar, in an interview with Atlanta’s 11 Alive News.

“We all want to see Morris Brown win,” Hobson said. “If Morris Brown wins, then Atlanta ultimately wins.”