The Congress finds that—

(1) there are a significant number of institutions of higher education serving high percentages of minority students and students from low-income backgrounds, that face problems that threaten their ability to survive;

(2) the problems relate to the management and fiscal operations of certain institutions of higher education, as well as to an inability to engage in long-range planning and development activities, including endowment building;

(3) in order to be competitive and provide a high-quality education for all, institutions of higher education should improve their technological capacity and make effective use of technology;

(4) the subchapter III program prior to 1985 did not always meet the specific development needs of historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions with large concentrations of minority, low-income students;

(5) the solution of the problems of these institutions would enable them to become viable, fiscally stable and independent, thriving institutions of higher education;

(6) providing assistance to eligible institutions will enhance the role of such institutions in providing access and quality education to low-income and minority students;

(7) these institutions play an important role in the American system of higher education, and there is a strong national interest in assisting them in solving their problems and in stabilizing their management and fiscal operations, and in becoming financially independent; and

(8) there is a particular national interest in aiding those institutions of higher education that have historically served students who have been denied access to postsecondary education because of race or national origin and whose participation in the American system of higher education is in the Nation’s interest so that equality of access and quality of postsecondary education opportunities may be enhanced for all students.

It is the purpose of this subchapter to assist such institutions in equalizing educational opportunity through a program of Federal assistance.

(Pub. L. 89–329, title III, § 301, as added Pub. L. 99–498, title III, § 301(a), Oct. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 1290; amended Pub. L. 102–325, title III, § 301, July 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 472; Pub. L. 103–208, § 2(a)(4), Dec. 20, 1993, 107 Stat. 2457; Pub. L. 105–244, title III, § 302, Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1637.)