Higher education bonds

Slightly more than $154 million in federal stimulus cash will help Arizona’s three state universities replace a portion of the cuts they suffered in last year’s state budget.

SAN FRANCISCO - California's finance officials this week are expected to announce the size and shape of the state's upcoming cash-flow borrowing.

California announced Tuesday that it has closed a $199.9 million bond deal with the University of California through a private placement transaction, the fifth such placement the state treasurer’s office has conducted this year.

DALLAS - The University of Arkansas in Little Rock will ask the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees next month for a $31.6 million bond issue to build a new nanotechnology center and other facilities on the Little Rock campus.

DALLAS - Santa Fe is preparing to defease the debt of the College of Santa Fe under a plan to rescue the state's oldest private college.

The Treasury Department is seeking public comments on tax-advantaged college savings plans that involve municipal securities, including whether tax subsidies are the most cost-effective way to make college affordable for low- and middle-income families.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Using an analogy between "fish and chips" and derivatives transactions to frame his decision, a federal judge weighing the Alabama Public School and College Authority's bid to void a swaption has finally issued his first ruling nine months after the case was filed.

DALLAS - The Houston-area Lone Star College System had its underlying credit raised to AAA from AA-plus by Standard & Poor's as it prepares to come to market with $150 million of general obligation bonds.

Standard & Poor’s last week upgraded Northwestern Michigan College’s debt two notches to AA in recognition of its very strong reserves and good financial management.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $50.9 million of revenue bonds issued in 2003 by the University and Community College System of Nevada, now called the Nevada System of Higher Education.

CHICAGO - Cleveland's University Hospitals Health System today will take retail orders on $101 million of fixed-rate and variable-rate revenue bonds to raise funds for its $1 billion capital improvement plan and to refinance some outstanding debt.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle last week signed a law that allows universities and charitable organizations more leeway in dipping into their endowments.

CHICAGO - Chicago-area governments should follow the City Colleges of Chicago's lead by holding their property tax levies steady and offering backup plans for possible state aid cuts, according to a report from a local business-funded government watchdog group on the colleges' $492 million fiscal 2010 budget.

Moody’s Investors Service this week revised its outlook to negative from stable on DePauw University’s A2 credit due to operating deficits. It has about $100 million of rated debt sold through the Indiana Finance Authority and the Indiana Educational Facilities Authority.

SAN FRANCISCO - Moody's Investors Service on Friday placed on review for downgrade the credit enhancement policies of California's two state pension systems, as well as California State University bonds, while affirming the University of California's credit rating.

WASHINGTON — Legislation introduced by a key House lawmaker to require all federally guaranteed student loans to be issued directly by the federal government includes provisions that may impact the market for existing debt backed by student loans, market participants said yesterday.

Three former City College of San Francisco administrators, including a former chancellor, pleaded not guilty to charges that they steered more than $150,000 in college funds into bond campaigns, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

CHICAGO - The Curators of the University of Missouri will enter the market on Thursday with a $350 million sale that includes $275 million of taxable Build America Bonds to fund projects at its various campuses and projects at its health system, including a new patient tower.

DALLAS - Oklahoma State University will acquire privately owned on-campus student housing with the proceeds from this week's negotiated sales of about $200 million of debt.

Dodge City Community College, Pratt Community College, and Cowley Community College have filed suit against the Kansas Board of Regents based on what the plaintiffs said was unequal funding for vocational and technical programs.