Fitch Ratings last week downgraded to B from BB its rating on $18.5 million of revenue bonds issued by the Nebraska Educational Finance Authority on behalf of Midland Lutheran College.
The credit action reflects Midland’s negative operating performance, its depletion of resources, and its apparent inability to correct its structural imbalance, analysts said. The fiscal distress was signaled last year in part by the school’s request to borrow $2.5 million against its permanently restricted endowment, according to Fitch.
The school, a private liberal arts college located in the town of Fremont outside of Omaha, got a new president last year who has started to implement a three-year turnaround plan. The school’s rating will depend in part upon the success or failure of the turnaround plan, Fitch said.
