Higher education bonds

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.

The Iowa Board of Regents have approved $30 million of borrowing for the University of Iowa for cash-flow purposes related to $232 million of repair costs from the devastating floods that swept through the region last spring.

The Jan. 7 article by Michelle Kaske alleges that "questions continue" over the billing and financial practices at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She refers to an October article in which the Newark Star-Ledger reported that UMDNJ "continued to overbill even during a two-year period when there was a federal monitor observing the school."

DALLAS - Utah lawmakers are considering cutting education funding in an effort to trim state spending by 7.5% in the current fiscal year and twice that much in the next budget.

DALLAS - Seeing what may be a brief window of opportunity, issuers and their finance teams were scrambling yesterday to bring some long-stalled deals to the muni market this week.

CHICAGO - Confident the market has begun to recover from last year's turmoil, two major Ohio issuers plan to enter the market today with a pair of long-delayed bond issues.

DALLAS - Texas lawmakers gavel in the 2009 session today with a weakening economy, a backlog of transportation funding needs, and 10% less revenue available than in the previous biennium.

DALLAS — Cities, school districts, universities, and other issuers in Texas hope to begin clearing a backlog of bonds this week as demand for munis appears to be strengthening.

DALLAS - Stephen F. Austin State University will issue $23 million of revenue bonds next week to build a nursing school and expand other buildings on its Nacogdoches, Tex., campus.

As the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey gears up for a long-awaited refinancing, questions continue over its billing and financial practices.

WASHINGTON - The Virginia College Building Authority will bring $309 million of revenue bonds to market in a negotiated transaction today to finance about 30 construction projects at nine colleges and universities ranging from sports facilities to parking decks.