The Authority shall:

1. Expand access to higher education in the Roanoke Valley by providing for adult and continuing education and degree-granting programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, through partnerships with the Commonwealth’s public institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education;

2. Serve as a resource and referral center on existing educational programs and resources by maintaining and disseminating information;

3. Develop, in coordination with the Council, specific goals for higher education access and availability in the Roanoke Valley; and

4. Accept, administer, and account for any state grant to a nonstate entity that may be provided in the name of the Roanoke Higher Education Center (the Center) or the Authority.