LaTasha Harris transferred to Life University from the University of Mississippi two years ago with the hope of attending a smaller college and continuing to play basketball.

An injury took her off the court her first year. An accreditation and budget crisis at Life sidelined her for good as the university nixed its athletic programs to save money.

"That kind of hurt a little bit," Harris said. "That was going to be my year, but then there was no team."

But Harris does not suggest even for a minute that she regrets her years at Life. And if she had to do it all over again, she would not hesitate to do it.

"If they ever had a master's program, I would still be at Life," said Harris, who will graduate with a degree in business administration. "I love Life."

On Sunday, Harris, 22, receives her diploma at the university's Eagle's Nest, along with about 225 others who will be the first full graduating class since Life's accreditation and budget crises began last year.

Life, at one time the nation's largest chiropractic school, has struggled to survive. The university lost its accreditation with the Council on Chiropractic Education on June 10, 2002, and an appeal Oct. 20. Without program accreditation, graduates from Life might not be able to secure their licenses in some states.

After the university learned it would take a minimum of two years to restore its credentials, it sued the accrediting agency, seeking more than $100 million in damages.

A federal court restored Life's accreditation in February until the lawsuit could be resolved. The accreditation agency is appealing that order.

But the damage had been done. More than 2,000 students withdrew from the school after the lost appeal and the school fell into a budget crisis that threatened to close the school. Several hundred returned, but the college's enrollment numbers remain far below its 1995 peak of more than 4,000.

In the meantime, nearly 500 students are involved in a class-action suit against the university, claiming the board of trustees and Life founder Sid Williams were negligent in losing the school's accreditation.

But the graduation means hope, said Ben DeSpain, who became Life president last November.

"This means that we are surviving," DeSpain said. "We think we bottomed out a quarter ago. This is a signal of a new beginning where we have a new resolve and a new enthusiasm that will carry us on through the rest of our recovery."

In March, the school held a smaller, less formal ceremony for about 15 students needing to graduate and move on to their careers. But this weekend's graduation ceremony marks the schools' rise from the ashes.

DeSpain described the students graduating Sunday as the "heart and soul and the school's core."

Harris, for one, said she never lost faith in Life.

Although she won't have her degree in hand until Sunday, she already has used her education to create and manage her own company, a networking agency for models and actors. She credits her teachers with giving her the extra drive to succeed.

"The teachers here are going to help you no matter what," she said. "Even if they have to stay late, they will. At the University of Mississippi, teachers didn't care if they knew your last name. Here you can actually go to the president's office, if necessary, and have a conversation with him."

And she's confident that the school will more than simply survive.

"Life University is going to be all right. It's going to come back better than ever," Harris said. "The school is not going anywhere but up from here. They've already been at the bottom. Now it's time to get back to the top."