Higher education bonds

The Saint Raphael Obligated Group has defaulted on certain covenants attached to $59.9 million of tax-exempt bonds issued in 2004 on its behalf by the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority, according to a material event notice.

The University of South Carolina is expected to sell $28 million of revenue bonds next Wednesday as the system faces state budget cuts.

The University of Minnesota’s plans for a new $275 million children’s hospital received a boost last week with the announcement of a $50 million gift.

CHICAGO - The University of Illinois has pushed off until next month its planned $85 million new-money and refunding bond sale after abandoning plans for a floating-rate transaction in favor of a fixed-rate one as rates have grown more attractive.

WASHINGTON - Growing mark-to-market liabilities for interest rate swaps are posing credit risks that could result in downgrades for some not-for-profit hospitals, higher education institutions, and other nonprofit borrowers, Moody's Investors Service warned in a report issued yesterday.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Municipal bond issuance in the Southeast last year took the largest tumble of any region in the country. Volume fell in all four quarters of 2008 as the credit crunch worsened and - as one financial adviser put it - the rules kept changing.

DALLAS - The abrupt resignation of a University of Texas regent overseeing investments for the state's Permanent University Fund has become an issue in the political battle between Gov. Rick Perry and his presumed 2010 primary challenger, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

DALLAS - The Texas A&M University System on Thursday will offer the largest issue of higher education debt in the state so far this year with $350 million of revenue financing system bonds. But the system will wait to add another $250 million backed by the Permanent University Fund.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Facing a deficit that could run $1 billion or more, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen Monday night told lawmakers he would delay submitting his budget until Congress passes an economic stimulus bill that's projected to bring the state more than $3 billion.

CHICAGO - A flood of refundings by Midwestern issuers looking to shed auction-rate securities and variable-rate bonds backed by downgraded insurers in the second quarter of 2008 couldn't compensate for a steep fourth-quarter drop-off in borrowing amid the economic and market turmoil of last fall.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun auditing $99.3 million of student housing refunding revenue bonds issued in 2006 by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority.

Standard & Poor’s last week lowered its underlying rating on the Galveston Community College District’s outstanding Series 2004 combined fee revenue and refunding bonds to BBB from BBB-plus and placed the rating on negative CreditWatch.

Duke University is expected to sell $280 million of revenue bonds next Wednesday, representing the largest tax-exempt deal from North Carolina so far this year.

DALLAS — The growing Texas Tech University System seized its first opportunity to price $174 million of revenue bonds yesterday as market conditions continued to favor strong credits.

DALLAS — New Texas issues will be sparse the first week of February, as higher education and a state general obligation bond issue add some heft to the calendar.

As New York's 2009 legislative session kicks into high gear the state's largest issuers are looking for support for their annual wish lists.

New York University could seek bondholder approval to let it out of debt service reserve requirements for bonds that have surety bonds issued by downgraded insurers, following the approval yesterday by the board of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York of amendments to the resolution those bonds were issued under.

A proposal to cut state aid to higher education by $600 million over the next 18 months is a starting point for negotiations rather than a dictate, House Speaker Kirk Adams said last week in the wake of widespread criticism of the planned reduction.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority expects OSF Healthcare System and Rush University Medical Center to soon join in on the slow trickle of struggling health care borrowers testing market interest in their sector's debt so far this year.

CHICAGO - William Rainey Harper College - one of the nation's few triple-A rated community colleges - plans to enter the market as early as today with $153 million of general obligation bonds. The deal will triple the suburban Chicago school's outstanding debt.