Edward Waters University lands $25 million loan for its first new dorm since 1982

Edward Waters University has locked in a $25 million federal-backed loan that will pay for its first brand-new dorm in more than four decades. The 30-year deal also covers the first track and field facility the Jacksonville HBCU has ever had on campus.

The school finalized the borrowing on Sept. 10 through a U.S. Department of Education program built to help historically Black colleges pay for buildings. All told the money anchors a campus makeover worth more than $33 million.

Nearly 200 new beds by 2028

The new hall is set to hold close to 200 students when it opens in fall 2028. That will make it the biggest place to live on campus. Jacksonville firm LandSouth Construction is putting it up from plans drawn by Niles Bolton Associates.

The city of Jacksonville has pledged $2 million for the track. The school is also lining up close to $9 million in other upgrades. Those include better science labs, work on Centennial Hall and the Lee Cousins Administration Building, a one-stop welcome center for students and new safety and infrastructure improvements. The school has not laid out exactly how every dollar of that work will be paid for.

Growth made the case

Students are the reason for the push. Edward Waters counts 1,286 students this fall, a jump of 37 percent from 2019, according to President A. Zachary Faison Jr.

The deal got a close look before it was approved. The review covered who runs the school and how long they have been there, enrollment trends and at least five years of audited finances. Edward Waters has posted seven straight years of operating surpluses. Its endowment is more than three times what it was in 2018. Over the same stretch it grew from eight degree programs to 17.

William Fisher, who leads the Black-owned firm that arranges loans for the federal program, pointed to one more detail. He said the school added students without leaning harder on tuition discounts. He described the loan as a vote of confidence in how the university handles money, not an act of charity.

A program many HBCUs skip

Congress set up the HBCU Capital Financing Program in 1992 to help Black colleges borrow for campus projects on fair terms. The federal government guarantees the principal and interest. Even so the school says fewer than half of the nation's HBCUs have ever used it.

The firm handling the deals was founded in 1993 by Don Rice and says it has closed more than $3.6 billion in college loans. Its recent work includes a $157 million loan to Alabama A&M in 2024 plus deals for Xavier University of Louisiana ($96 million) and South Carolina State ($72 million) last year. In June it refinanced $22.5 million for Benedict College.

For Edward Waters the payoff is simple. More students are coming. Now they will have more places to live and a track to run on at home.