(WBIR - KNOXVILLE) - Troubled Knoxville College is suspending classes for the fall semester.
The 1875-era historically black college has only 11 students currently enrolled, according to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
THEC confirmed Monday that Knoxville College wanted to re-organize and restructure.
It decided the best way to do that is to refrain from offering classes in the fall. The school won't offer instruction or enroll or recruit students.
Enrollment has steadily declined through the decades at the Mechanicsville school. It is struggling to pay routine bills as well as debts, including an outstanding loan.
Much of the campus is shuttered or in sagging disrepair.
Last summer federal environment officials intervened to clear out what they deemed hazardous chemicals that were left in an unused science building. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) arrived on campus to inspect thousands of bottles in the A. K. Stewart Science Building. The building has been abandoned for several years, but many of the materials used for college-level science classes were never removed.
EPA says there were no special challenges when cleaning up the materials.
