Higher education bonds

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York last week gave final approval to $150 million of bonds for a university and preliminary approval to $72.8 million for lower education projects.

Standard & Poor's Tuesday revised its outlook to positive from stable on the A rating of Western Kentucky University's 2002 and 2003 consolidated educational buildings revenue bonds.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Hamline University's rating to Baa2 from Baa1 due to its highly leveraged balance sheet. The move affects $56 million of debt, including this week's $26 million issued through the Minnesota Higher Education Facilities Authority.

DALLAS — A wave of financial emergencies brought on by deep cuts in Texas education spending will bring additional credit scrutiny to school districts but not necessarily downgrades, Standard & Poor's analysts said Tuesday.

DALLAS — The Texas A&M University System will offer one of the largest Southwest deals Tuesday in a lean municipal market.

Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook on outstanding University of Southern California debt to stable from negative because the school has maintained solid finances.

Indiana college and university officials say they need at least $700 million for new capital projects, but lawmakers say they are unlikely to fund the requests in the cash-strapped state’s upcoming two-year budget.

WASHINGTON — South Carolina expects to competitively issue $342.7 million of refunding bonds and $126.2 million of general obligation bonds for four higher education institutions this week.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised gilt-edged Amherst College’s outlook to stable from negative due to an improvement in the school’s liquidity.

Real estate development firm Majestic Realty Tuesday announced a proposal to build a new football stadium at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with the help of tax-increment bond financing.

Fitch Ratings Tuesday downgraded $75 million of bonds issued for the University of Redlands by three notches because of dire finances.

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents last week approved a $28.5 million bond issue to help finance a plan to rehab and expand its sports facilities to make it more competitive with those of other Big 10 college teams.

CHICAGO — The University of Minnesota enters the market Tuesday with $388 million of general obligation bonds to raise funds for various projects and reduce its floating-rate exposure by refunding debt.

DALLAS — The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees gave preliminary approval to $141 million of revenue bonds Friday that will finance improvements to the main campus in Fayetteville.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York gave final and preliminary approval last week to nearly $600 million of bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is poised to enact emergency procedures this week to ensure Atlanta Public Schools doesn’t lose its high school accreditation — a development that would prevent its new graduates from getting into most colleges and qualifying for ­scholarships.

Louisiana State University has been hurt by a loss of $45 million in state aid over the last two years, LSU provost Jack Hamilton said this week, but additional cuts could cause longer-lasting damage.

Clarian Health, Indiana’s second-largest health care provider, officially renamed itself Indiana University Health this week to emphasize its partnership with the Indiana University School of Medicine.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Finance Authority advanced plans this week for $200 million in borrowing to finance new, privately developed student residential facilities at two state universities.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $500,000 for failing to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures to ensure that its representatives considered customers’ state income-tax benefits in their suitability analyses of 529 college saving plans.