ATLANTA --- The city of Atlanta agreed Friday to turn the water back on for the troubled Morris Brown College in exchange for a $100,000 payment on the college's overdue $380,000 bill.

The restored service means the college, on shaky financial footing since a corruption scandal in 2002, can keep its doors open for the 250 students who will be on campus when classes resume Friday.

Under a court-ordered agreement, Morris Brown acting president Stanley Pritchett agreed to immediately make the payment from donations collected by the college in the past week. The rest of the bill is set to be paid by Feb. 17.

"We never tried to shirk responsibility," Mr. Pritchett said after a two-hour hearing in Fulton County Superior Court. "We just needed to be given more time."

The water has been off at the Atlanta campus since Dec. 15 after the school was unable to meet a payment plan to address the outstanding bill. Morris Brown filed a request for a temporary injunction against the city Wednesday in hopes of getting its water service restored.

During the hearing, city attorney Theresa Stewart told the judge that over the past few years, the watershed management department has made 140 bill collection calls to Morris Brown and issued 66 disconnect work orders on the college's 15 active accounts.

She said a court-ordered restoration of service would set a "dangerous precedent" for customers who are chronically late paying their bill.

Mr. Pritchett said he plans to hold a rally today to raise more money for water bill payments.

The 127-year-old historically black college has been pleading for donors to help the institution pay down a $1.5 million pile of bills.