Higher education bonds

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.

CHICAGO — With a round of positive credit action to tout, DePaul University in Chicago will enter the market this month with $165 million of debt that will include its first new-money sale to fund capital projects in more than a decade.

DALLAS — The Austin Community College District will trim plans for its expansion into Hays County after losing a chance to issue Build America Bonds, officials said.

New Jersey should issue $2.7 billion of general obligation bonds to help finance a backlog of capital projects at its public universities and colleges, according to a report released late Tuesday.

A $1 billion, largely bond-financed expansion of the Ohio State University Medical Center got a boost last week with the announcement of a $100 million federal grant. The project is Ohio’s largest labor initiative and is projected to create up to 10,000 new jobs and 5,000 construction jobs.

DALLAS — Texas higher education institutions could issue up to $3.2 billion in tuition-backed revenue bonds under a bill introduced for the legislative session that begins next week.

Northern Arizona University expects this month to pay off $21 million of debt from a 2002-03 bond issue for academic projects, easing debt service over the next 10 years and increasing its ability to borrow, vice president Jennus Burton said.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $130.96 million of consolidated revenue bonds issued in September 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System to finance the acquisition, construction, and renovation of facilities.

Standard & Poor's raised its long-term and underlying ratings on Indiana University to AA-plus from AA.

Alabama federal Judge Keith Watkins accepted a settlement Monday ending a two-year-old lawsuit involving swaptions between the Alabama Public School and College Authority and JPMorgan.

The Kansas Board of Regents will seek a $50 million increase in state aid to higher education in fiscal 2012 to restore some of the money lost to budget cuts over the past two years.