After losing their accreditation and fighting back from bankruptcy nine years ago, Selma University is getting back on track.

The bible college announced this week that the school would be given full accreditation according to a four-year plan issued by the Association of Biblical Higher Education.

“We want to get it done in two,” Selma University President Dr. Alvin A. Cleveland said.

While the school isn’t fully accredited yet, Cleveland said the school and its students would still enjoy the privileges of full accreditation, allowing the school to complete the accreditation process.

He said students are now eligible for federal funding with Pell Grants, student loan programs and the G.I. Bill.

Cleveland said that ABHE accreditation is the same as authorization by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

“As of this point, all of our students academic credits will transfer to another institution,” Cleveland said.

Formerly a Christian Liberal Arts college, Cleveland said the school was previously a SACS certified institution, from 1992 to 1996.

In 1996, while Cleveland was serving as the school’s chair of religious studies, Selma University declared bankruptcy, leading to its loss of accreditation, according to Cleveland.

At that point, the school’s owners, the Alabama Baptist Missionary Convention decided to set things straight, Cleveland said.

“We had to go down and completely revamp,” he said. When the school was founded 127 years ago by the Convention, its original charter was as a Bible school.

“It serves the purpose of preparing ministers,” he said. “Most of the preachers of the Convention are trained here.”

Through the evolution of the school, Cleveland said the University became a liberal arts college.

After the bankruptcy, the trustee board and the Convention agreed to revert the school back to its Bible school roots.

“The trustee board and the convention rallied around,” he said.

Cleveland took over the school’s leadership in 1999. In 2001, Cleveland said, the school achieved “advocacy” status from the ABHE.

No, in 2005, the school is close to becoming a full-fledged teacher of preachers again, according to Cleveland.

The 20-year veteran of Selma University said he was glad the school was back on track.

For the future, he said he wants to increase the school’s enrollment from 150 to 600, beautify the historic campus and strengthen its academic program.

It’s a long way from the basement school it started out as in the First Baptist Church, then called the St. Phillips Street Baptist Church.

“It’s been quite a journey,” Cleveland said.