Rensselaer Stable for Sale

Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a stable rating to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, two weeks before the nation’s largest technological research university plans to remarket its Series 2002E bonds as fixed rate, and sell $40 million of taxable debt through a private placement.

Moody’s affirmed RPI’s long-term rating at A3.

The $40 million will help offset a $101 million pension shortfall at the institute, located in Troy, N.Y., according to analysts.

The rating agency also said RPI’s enrollment drop at its Hartford, Conn., campus, which offers graduate degrees and programs for working professionals, has strained financials.

University officials cited larger economic challenges along with a move by some Hartford-area corporations to cut back on certain benefits, including tuition support.

According to Moody’s, the Hartford campus generated about $11 million of net tuition revenue on a total adjusted operating revenue base of nearly $387 million.

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