Atlanta HBCU has a bright future after winning back accreditation

ATLANTA — A historically Black Atlanta college has a brighter future after winning back accreditation it lost two decades ago.

Channel 2′s Tom Regan was at Morris Brown College Wednesday, where he talked to students about what the re-accreditation means to them.

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Morris Brown’s enrollment collapsed after it lost accreditation in 2002. Without accreditation, students could not apply for federal loans and grants.

Morris Brown expects enrollment to come back strong now that students are eligible for federal funds.

Students at the Atlanta University Center of Historically Black Colleges and Universities hailed the re-accreditation of Morris Brown College as a successful turnaround that will open doors for the institution and students.

Tanashi Coleman, a student at Clark Atlanta, tells Regan she’s just happy they’re back.

“It’s going to be like the original AUC,” Coleman said.

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Morris Brown College, which was named after an African-American Bishop, was the first institution of higher education in Georgia created by Black people for Black students.

The university lost accreditation in 2002, and ten years later filed for bankruptcy. This week, the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools voted to grant Morris Brown full accreditation.

Akosua Squarrell-Revell, who attends Clark Atlanta, thinks the new accreditation is a good thing.

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“It does add one more choice of an institution to the AUC,” Squarrell-Revell said. “When people apply it’s not just Morehouse, Clark and Spellman. There’s four.”

Clark Atlanta student Destiny Nortarfrancesco agrees.

“I think it will definitely give more students the opportunity to follow their dreams and achieve the American dream; which is go to college and be successful,” Nortarfrancesco said.

The accreditation agency told Regan that Morris Brown has made significant progress in fundraising and hiring of educators and other staff. The college president plans to speak about the new status tomorrow.

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