Section 20-3-201. Definitions

   As used in this article, the term:

   (1) "Authority" means the Private Colleges and Universities Authority created by this article and any successor or successors thereto. Any change in name or composition of the authority shall in no way affect the vested rights of any person under this article.

   (2) "Bond," "bonds," or "revenue bonds" means revenue bonds of the authority issued under this article, including revenue refunding bonds, notwithstanding that such bonds may be secured by a mortgage or the full faith and credit of a participating institution for higher education or any other lawfully pledged security of a participating institution for higher education.

   (3) "Borrower" means any student who has received an education loan or any parent who has received or agreed to repay an education loan.

   (4) "Construction project" means a structure or structures available for use as a dormitory or other student housing facility; a dining hall; student union; administration building; academic building; library; laboratory; research facility; classroom; athletic facility; health care facility; maintenance, storage, or utility facility; and other structures or facilities related thereto or required or useful for the instruction of students or the conducting of research or the operation of an institution of higher education, whether proposed, under construction, or completed, including parking and other facilities or structures essential or convenient for the orderly conduct of such institution for higher education; shall also include landscaping, site preparation, furniture, equipment and machinery and other similar items necessary or convenient for the operation of a particular facility or structure in the manner for which it is intended but shall not include any items the costs of which are customarily deemed to result in a current operating charge and shall not include any facility used or to be used for sectarian instruction or as a place of religious worship nor any facility which is used or to be used primarily in connection with any part of the program of a school or department of divinity for any religious denomination. "Construction project" also means any one or more buildings or structures owned, leased, or operated by an institution for higher education, including, without limitation, hospitals; clinics; extended-care facilities; emergency-care facilities; out-patient facilities; alcohol and drug detoxification facilities; training facilities for nurses, interns, physicians, dentists, or other staff members; housing for nurses, residents, and interns; medical and dental office facilities; and other structures or facilities related thereto or required or useful for such purposes, whether proposed, under construction, or completed, including parking and other facilities or structures essential or convenient for such purposes; and shall also include landscaping, site preparation, furniture, equipment and machinery, and other similar items necessary or convenient for the operation of a particular facility or structure in the manner for which it is intended but shall not include any items the costs of which are customarily deemed to result in a current operation charge. The term "construction project" also means and includes the acquisition, construction, improvement, or modification of any property, whether real or personal, which shall be suitable for or used as or in connection with an exhibition hall, museum, or other structure or structures for the display by an institution of higher education of the works of its students or faculty or of professional or other artists.

   (5) "Cost," as applied to a project or any portion thereof financed under this article, means, if such project is a construction project, all or any part of the cost of construction, acquisition, alteration, enlargement, reconstruction, and remodeling of a construction project, including all lands, structures, real or personal property, rights, rights of way, franchises, easements, permits, approvals, licenses, and certificates and the securing of such permits, approvals, licenses, and certificates, and interests acquired or used for or in connection with a construction project; the cost of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such buildings or structures may be moved; the cost of all machinery and equipment; financing charges; underwriters' commissions or discounts; interest prior to, during, and for a period of six months following estimated completion of such construction and acquisition; provisions for reserves for principal and interest and for extensions, enlargements, additions, and improvements; the cost of architectural, engineering, financial, and legal services, plans, specifications, studies, surveys, estimates of cost and revenues; administrative expenses; expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of constructing the construction project; and such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the construction and acquisition of the construction project, the financing of such construction and acquisition, and the placing of the construction project in operation. If such project is an education loan program, the term "cost," as applied to a project or portion thereof financed under the provisions of this article, means all or any part of the moneys needed to fund the loan program and the expenses of administration and operation of such education loan program, including the fees and expenses of persons engaged by the authority or by a participating institution for higher education to originate or service education loans or to conduct financial feasibility studies. All funds paid or advanced for any of the purposes aforesaid by any institution for higher education prior to the issuance of any of the authority's revenue bonds may be refunded to such institution out of the proceeds of any revenue bonds so issued. Any obligation or expense incurred for any of the foregoing purposes shall be regarded as a part of the cost of the project and may be paid or reimbursed as such out of the proceeds of revenue bonds or notes issued under this article for such project.

   (6) "Cost of attendance" means the amount defined by the participating institution for higher education for the purpose of the guaranteed student loan program as defined in Title IV, Part B, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C.A. Section 1071, et seq., as said statute existed on January 1, 1983.

   (7) "Education loan" means a loan which is made by a participating institution for higher education pursuant to this article to a student or parents, or both, in amounts not in excess of the maximum amounts specified in this paragraph to finance the student's attendance at such institution. The maximum loan amount shall not exceed:

      (A) In the case of a borrower who is a student, the student's cost of attendance for the period of time for which the loan is made minus the following amounts applicable to such period of time:

         (i) The amount of grant which the student receives under the federal Pell Grant program authorized under Title IV, Part A, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C.A. Section 1070, et seq., whether or not the student has made application for such grant;

         (ii) The maximum net guaranteed student loan proceeds which the student receives pursuant to Title IV, Part B, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C.A. Section 1071, et seq., whether or not the student has made application for such loan;

         (iii) The amount of scholarships, grants, or other nonrepayable assistance received by the student from government agencies, educational institutions, or private institutions or organizations; and

         (iv) The amount of loan proceeds which the student receives pursuant to Title IV, Part E, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C.A. Section 1087aa, et seq.; and

      (B) In the case of a borrower who is a parent, the student's cost of attendance minus:

         (i) The amounts determined pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph; and

         (ii) The amount of loan, if any, which the student receives pursuant to this article.

   (8) "Education loan program" means a program for making education loans from moneys provided by the authority instituted by any one or more participating institution or institutions for higher education.

   (9) "Institution for higher education" means a nonprofit educational institution which is not owned or controlled by the state or any political subdivision, agency, instrumentality, district, or municipality thereof, which provides a program of education beyond the high school level and which:

      (A) Admits as regular students only individuals having a certificate of graduation from a high school, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate;

      (B) Provides an educational program for which it awards a bachelor's degree or provides an educational program, admission into which is conditioned upon the prior attainment of a bachelor's degree or its equivalent, for which it awards a postgraduate degree, or provides not less than a two-year program which is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree; and

      (C) Is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association or, if not so accredited, is an institution whose credits are accepted, on transfer, by the university system and its educational units for credit on the same basis as if transferred from an institution so accredited,

or any nonprofit corporation organized solely for the benefit of such an institution; provided, however, that a nonprofit educational institution which is otherwise an institution for higher education as defined in this paragraph shall be deemed to be an institution for higher education notwithstanding such institution's maintenance of a special early-admission policy for gifted high school students.

   (10) "Parent" or "parents" means any parent or guardian or the parents or guardians of a student at a participating institution for higher education.

   (11) "Project" means a construction project or an education loan program, or both, as the case may be.

   (12) "Property" means any real, personal, or mixed property or any interest therein, including, without limitation, any real estate, appurtenances, buildings, easements, equipment, furnishings, furniture, improvements, machinery, rights of way, and structures, or any interest therein.

   (13) "Revenues" means, with respect to any project, the rents, purchase installments, loan repayment proceeds, fees, charges, and other moneys derived by the authority therefrom in connection with the lease, sale, or financing thereof.

   (14) "Student" means any individual who possesses a certificate of admission or enrollment at a participating institution for higher education and who satisfies any requirements established by such institution with respect to participation in the education loan program maintained by such institution.

Ga. L. 1978, p. 1765, § 3; Ga. L. 1979, p. 1069, § 1; Ga. L. 1981, p. 1331, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 20; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1820, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 20; Ga. L. 1999, p. 402, § 1.