As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) AUTHORITY. The Private Colleges and Universities Facilities Authority created by this chapter 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 the provisions of this chapter.

(2) PROJECT. 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, 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 its use 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.

(3) COSTS. As applied to a project or any portion thereof financed under the provisions of this chapter, all or any part of the cost of construction, acquisition, alteration, enlargement, reconstruction and remodeling of a 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 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 project and such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the construction and acquisition of the project, the financing of such construction and acquisition and the placing of the project in operation. 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 the provisions of this chapter for such project.

(4) BONDS or REVENUE BONDS. Revenue bonds of the authority issued under the provisions of this chapter, including revenue refunding bonds, notwithstanding that the same 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.

(5) INSTITUTION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION. A not-for-profit educational institution which is not owned or controlled by the state or any political subdivision, agency, instrumentality, district or municipality thereof, which is authorized by law to provide 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; and

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 post-graduate 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 of Alabama and its educational units for credit on the same basis as if transferred from an institution so accredited.

(6) PROPERTY. 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.

(7) REVENUES. 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.