a significant part of the Federal mission in education has been to attain equal opportunity in higher education for low-income, educationally disadvantaged Americans and African Americans;

the Nation’s historically Black colleges and universities have played a prominent role in American history and have an unparalleled record of fostering the development of African American youth by recognizing their potential, enhancing their academic and technical skills, and honing their social and political skills through higher education;

the academic and residential facilities on the campuses of all historically Black colleges and universities have suffered from neglect, deferred maintenance and are in need of capital improvements in order to provide appropriate settings for learning and social development through higher education;

due to their small enrollments, limited endowments and other financial factors normally considered by lenders in construction financing, historically Black colleges and universities often lack access to the sources of funding necessary to undertake the necessary capital improvements through borrowing and bond financing;

despite their track record of long-standing and remarkable institutional longevity and viability, historically Black colleges and universities often lack the financial resources necessary to gain access to traditional sources of capital financing such as bank loans and bond financing; and

Federal assistance to facilitate low-cost capital basis for historically Black colleges and universities will enable such colleges and universities to continue and expand their educational mission and enhance their significant role in American higher education.