After more than two decades of operating without accreditation, Knoxville College is seeking to regain that stamp of approval as it searches for its next president.
Leaders at the only historically Black college in East Tennessee say they plan to submit an application within a month to the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools for to regain accreditation, which says the college is maintaining certain levels of educational standards.
Knoxville College's loss of national accreditation in 1997 had a significant impact, exacerbating an ongoing decline in student enrollment and worsening financial woes. Without accreditation, students have been ineligible for federal financial aid, making it even more challenging to attract students and retain faculty.
"The light on the hill has never burned out," said former interim President Dr. Keith Lindsey. "We've got to learn from past mistakes in order to move this school forward. If Knoxville College wasn't meant to be here it wouldn't be here. And for those who say this school needs to be closed, they just don't understand the significance of why this school is here in the first place and why it has continued to endure."
The future viability of the nearly 150-year-old college hinges on one crucial factor: regaining accreditation. It's a process that has been years in the making.
How Knoxville College lost accreditation
The college experienced declining enrollment beginning in the 1970s. In 1997, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools withdrew Knoxville College's accreditation due to a combination of financial difficulties, declining enrollment and administrative challenges. The Knoxville HBCU, which had been a cornerstone of higher education in East Tennessee since its founding in 1875, struggled to maintain the standards set by accrediting bodies.
In 2015, the college lost its state accreditation and suspended classes after enrollment dropped to just 11 students.. The institution also was burdened with millions of dollars in debt, and several of its buildings were declared public safety hazards.
After college leaders began to address ongoing concerns and made repairs to its administrative building, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission granted approval for Knoxville College to resume offering classes in 2018, though it has only offered online courses.
Lindsey, who has taught as a professor at Knoxville College for more than 17 years, was part of the process of helping the college reopen during his time as interim president from 2017-20.
"I have been on campus and had the privilege of helping to restart the college in 2018. So when we had our first graduation again in 2019, we only had one student to graduate but we went from nothing to something. It gave us something to build on," Lindsey said. "It might not be a reality to get KC back to what it once was, but can it grow? That is our goal."
Leaders say accreditation application ready to submit
Knoxville College Board of Trustees Chair Dr. Michael Bowie told Knox News that the school is in a good position to submit the application for accreditation to the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools, commonly called TRACS, this summer even in the midst of a search for a new college president.
"We have gone through the process as a board in reviewing each of the 17 categories the school must meet that make up the application and we have approved all of those. So now it's just a matter of submission, and as soon as we send that off we will make that information available to the public. I am confident that will happen within the next 30 days," Bowie said.
Knoxville College President Leonard Adams, announced his resignation in June after serving as president since 2022 and as interim president the year before that. Bowie told Knox News that the search for the next president is underway, with plans to make a final selection by August. Adams will stay on through September as the search is conducted.
"Whoever is selected and serves as our next president will play a key role in making sure this reaccreditation process is carried out smoothly," Bowie said.
TRACS guidelines for accreditation
To win accreditation from TRACS, a school must meet a number of requirements, such as standards of integrity in operations and financial stability, which includes a regular review of its finances by the board of trustees.
Additionally, the school needs both full-time and part-time faculty under TRACS guidelines and quality educational programming. Currently, Knoxville College has 13 faculty and staff members, according to its website.
The school must pay a $10,000 fee with its accreditation application.
The school is $1.8 million in debt, according to Knoxville College's most recently filed Form 990 (an Internal Revenue Service form for tax-exempt organizations), The college also owes the city of Knoxville more than $28,000 in property tax, according to the city's property tax database.
Bowie told Knox News the school is working to address past debt and campus issues.
"When I say we're in a good but not great spot, we are able to deal with the day-to-day activities and the academic component of the institution, but we know we need to do more than that," Bowie said. "We have to deal with the infrastructure issues and technology, and ultimately deal with this past debt that we have."
Adams previously had announced the accreditation application would be submitted by the end of 2022, and then by the end of 2023, but that didn't happen.
What happens after the accreditation application is submitted?
TRACS' Applicant Review Committee will go over the college's accreditation application, including financial documents, and decide whether to approve, defer or deny the application.
TRACS officials also will visit the campus to evaluate Knoxville College before making its decision.
"If we are approved we will be given a status known as 'candidacy,' which will give us the ability to offer financial aid for five years," Bowie said. "This means that students enrolled at Knoxville College will be able to receive both state and federal financial aid. During that five-year period TRACS will be looking at us to assure that we are adhering to the guidelines of the state and federal government."
After the first five years of accreditation, institutions must go through a reaffirmation process similar to the original accreditation process. The reaffirmation lasts up to 10 years and includes a required review at the five-year mark, according to TRACS guidelines.
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