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.

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.

— Jessmine M. Cornelius (@jemcornelius) April 13, 2021

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.’”