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SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- Morris
Brown College was stripped of its
accreditation Tuesday, a blow that
will cost the historically black
school the federal financial aid
most students depend on to help
pay their tuition.

Another historically black institution,
Grambling State University in Louisiana,
will continue on probation for another
year, according to the decision by the
Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools.

Grambling was placed on probation last
year over concerns about its confusing
financial records.

Morris Brown is more than $23 million in
debt and went on probation last year for
shoddy bookkeeping and not having
enough professors with advanced
degrees. The staffing problem was
solved, but the school's financial crisis
has grown worse in the last year.

Eighty percent of the school's 2,500 students receive financial aid from the federal
government, which gives Morris Brown $8 million a year.

The 117-year-old school has been dealing with mounting financial debt and federal
scrutiny for more than a year and had hopes that it was finally on the right track.

College president Charles Taylor announced the bad news at a campuswide
meeting with students and faculty and said the college will appeal the decision. He
also said the college will remain open, though he could not give specifics about how
it will make up for the lost financial aid if the decision stands.

"It doesn't take rocket science to figure out if you have debt, you have to do
something about that debt," Taylor said.

Morris Brown was founded in 1885 by the African Methodist Episcopal Church -- the
only Georgia college founded by blacks.

One of six schools in the Atlanta University Center, Morris Brown's mission has been
in part, to educate students who might not have had the opportunity to go to college
otherwise.

Notable alumni include the late civil rights activist Hosea Williams and Pulitzer
Prize-winning author James McPherson.



Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
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