MassHEFA’s MIT Deal

The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Financing Authority last week approved up to $275 million of new-money borrowing for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Series 2008O fixed-rate bonds are expected to sell this month with Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley pricing the debt. Maturities could run through 40 years.

Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service rate the university triple-A. MIT has roughly $1.47 billion of outstanding debt, according to Standard & Poor’s.

The bond proceeds will support numerous school building construction projects and upgrades, according to MassHEFA spokesman Liam Sullivan. The university is building a 256,000-square-foot graduate residence hall, a new building for the school of architecture and a media laboratory, and a new building for the Sloan School of Management that will include a three-level underground 430-car parking facility. Other projects include utility upgrades, equipment, and various renovations throughout the campus.

MIT is a private university founded in 1865 and located in Cambridge with a focus on science and technology. Undergraduate enrollment for the 2007–2008 school year reached 4,172 and the university has 6,048 graduate students for the same time period.

“Demand at MIT is overwhelmingly strong, evidenced by an acceptance rate for undergraduate students at just 13% and a matriculation rate of 66% for fall 2007,” according to Standard & Poor’s.

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