Georgia’s first Black-owned institution of higher learning will have its accreditation candidacy restored for the first time in nearly 20 years, Morris Brown officials said on Tuesday.

According to a school release, Morris Brown’s candidacy status, granted by the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), demonstrates “that it can meet quality standards and is engaged in continuous improvement” after having its accreditation revoked in 2002 due to financial mismanagement and debt.

As Blavity previously reported, the school has struggled tremendously to attract students since losing accreditation. After filing for bankruptcy in 2012, MBC was purchased by Friendship Baptist Church, a leading voice in the religious community’s effort to restore its accreditation. 

The Tuesday release details that “candidacy indicates that the institution is in compliance with the standards and criteria, has been evaluated by an on-site peer team, and in the professional judgment of the evaluation team and the Accreditation Commission, the institution provides sound instruction and student services.”

Jessmine M. Cornelius, a school registrar, took to Twitter to revel in the historical announcement.

“AHHHHHHH, WE DID IT!!!!! WE SAVED MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE Nothing but tears of JOY as I type this! We are on[e] step closer to receiving full accreditation again! After eighteen years, Morris Brown College is BACK!!!!” She wrote.

As the release states, the school’s accreditation candidacy means Morris Brown can apply to take part in financial aid for students and Title IV funding. But there is still work to be done before students can rely on financial aid to supplement their tuitions.

“Candidacy is the most important step because it grants us the right to continue on towards full accreditation. Financial Aid is through the Dept of Education, not the accrediting body so there is another step,” Cornelius tweeted.

Without accreditation, the Atlanta college lost access to federal funding, which included restrictions on federal student loans and Pell Grants. At one point, MBC had enrolled more than 2,000 students but that number fell to 42 in 2019.

Bishop Reginald Jackson, chairman of Morris Brown’s Board of Trustees and bishop of the Sixth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, told Inside Higher Ed that he felt the college needed new leadership if it were to ever be restored to its former glory.

“I called in the former president and said to him that it was clear that Morris Brown was not going to regain its accreditation without new leadership,” he said.

Jackson said he convinced former President Stanley Pritchett to step down after leading the school for 12 years. Stanley formally resigned in December 2018 and Kevin James started as interim president the following March.

James expressed that he felt it was fated for him to help usher in a new era in the historically Black college’s legacy.

“My goal has always been to be a college president at an HBCU,” James said. “I was sitting at home, and I was watching the news, and I saw that my predecessor had resigned. It took me a few seconds to say to myself, ‘Wow, I want to be the next president of Morris Brown College.’”

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