Higher education bonds

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded St. Olaf College’s rating to A1 from A2 due to strong cash-flow margins, healthy liquidity and its plan to reduce its floating-rate risk.

DALLAS — The Bexar County, Tex., Hospital District plans to price $205 million of certificates of obligation Wednesday backed by the Build America Bond subsidy to expand San Antonio’s University Health System.

Emily Youssouf, former president of the New York City Housing Development Corp., will begin teaching at New York University this fall, it was announced last week.

Moody's Investors Service placed Fresno Pacific University's Ba2 rating on a watchlist for a possible downgrade.

Moody's Investors Service warned this week that last week's flooding across central Iowa could have negative credit implications for the hardest-hit towns.

Gov. Mitch Daniels said Indiana's education budgets are likely to be spared additional cuts if revenues remain at their current levels. Late last year he ordered $300 million cut from the K-12 budget and $150 million from the higher-education budget to help offset declining revenues. The K-12 budget accounts for more than half of the state's general fund.

The City Colleges of Chicago has proposed a $457.5 million operating budget for fiscal 2011 and a $139 million capital budget to finance infrastructure and technology improvements.

DALLAS — The University of Texas System has approved building an $800 million hospital at its UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas that will be financed largely through revenue bonds.

CHICAGO — The cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools will receive about $100 million from Illinois’ share of education funding in the new $26 billion federal jobs law, local and federal officials said Wednesday.

DALLAS — The Louisiana Community and Technical College System will continue its capital improvements effort at its campuses across the state with proceeds from the negotiated sale of $68.7 million of revenue bonds on Aug. 23.

Massachusetts hospitals and higher educational institutions could face higher borrowing costs in the future as the state plans to fold the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority into the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency.

DALLAS — Moody’s Investors Service restored Texas Southern University’s credit to investment grade Tuesday as the historically black school continued its recovery from a financial scandal that threatened its accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Public sector spending on new institutional construction in New York City outpaced private spending during a recent two-year period, according to a building industry report.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York created a finance committee last week to comply with a public authority reform law enacted last year. The committee will review all proposals for bond financings with DASNY staff before they are brought to the board for approval.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York gave final and preliminary approval to $1.15 billion of bonds at its monthly board meeting Wednesday.

Roger Anderson last week stepped down as executive director of the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority after serving there nearly eight years.

Moody’s Investors Service revised its outlook to stable from negative on Wheaton Franciscan Services Inc.’s Baa2 rating, citing progress in turning around its financial performance.

A new bond-issuing authority that is a partnership of the University of Nebraska and the city of Lincoln plans to come to market next month with up to $100 million of Build America Bonds to finance a new arena.

WASHINGTON — The University of Virginia, one of the first issuers to plunge into Build America Bonds, returns to the market with a $190 million competitive deal scheduled for Wednesday.

CHICAGO — New procurement rules aimed at curbing pay to play in contracts awarded by Illinois, its agencies, and its public universities could dampen the flow of creative financing ideas from the public finance community, some market participants believe.