<P> The new junior colleges began as extensions of black high schools, using the same facilities and often the same faculty . Some, over the next few years, did build their own buildings . After passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandating an end to school segregation, the colleges were all abruptly closed . Only a fraction of the students and faculty were able to transfer to the previously all - white junior colleges, where they found, at best, an indifferent reception . </P> <P> The Higher Education Act of 1965 established a program for direct federal grants to HBCUs, including federal matching of private endowment contributions . </P> <P> The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines a "part B institution" as: "...any historically black college or university that was established before 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary (of Education) to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation ." Part B of the 1965 Act provides for direct federal aid to Part B institutions . Some colleges with a predominantly black student body are not classified as a HBCU because they were founded (or opened their doors to African Americans) after the implementation of the Sweatt v. Painter (1950) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954) rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court (the court decisions which outlawed racial segregation of public education facilities) and the Higher Education Act of 1965 . </P> <P> In 1980, Jimmy Carter signed an executive order to distribute adequate resources and funds to strengthen the nation's public and private HBCUs . His executive order manifested the White House Initiative on historically black colleges and universities (WHIHBCU), which is a federally funded program that operates within the U.S. Department of Education . In 1989, George H.W. Bush continued to adopt Carter's pioneering spirit through signing Executive Order 12677, which created the presidential advisory board on HBCUs, to counsel the government and the secretary on the future development of these organizations . </P>

What is the largest historically black colleges and universities