Higher education bonds

Pima Community College expects to be debt-free a year from now, but Arizona's second largest community college district is fighting to maintain its accreditation.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday signed a bill creating a new university and medical school in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley by merging two existing University of Texas branches.

The City Colleges of Chicago's proposed $657 million fiscal 2014 budget won the endorsement of the Civic Federation of Chicago for ongoing progress toward improving its fiscal and operational health.

San Francisco Community College District's pending accreditation loss is a credit negative, says Moody's Investors Service.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano resigned from her position on Friday to take over the University of California system.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday downgraded Yeshiva University's rating to Baa1 from A2, and said it would review the university for further downgrade.

A bill that would provide tuition revenue bonds for 62 construction projects for Texas college and university campuses won a House committee's approval, despite the fact that outgoing Gov. Rick Perry has not added the issue to the call for the legislature's second special session of the year.

With an upgraded rating from Standard & Poor's, the largest university system in the country is planning to sell $244 million of revenue bonds on Wednesday.

The University of Connecticut this week will sell $225 million GO new money and refunding bonds, to fund work on its health center and other campuses.

Standard & Poor's says it plans to upgrade the debt of Polytechnic Institute of New York University by six notches on January 1.

A New Hampshire issuer appears to be the first student loan issuer to withdraw from the Internal Revenue Service's voluntary closing agreement program to settle a tax law dispute over some of the $135.4 million of adjustable-rate education loan revenue bonds it issued in 2011.

A pension reform plan endorsed by leaders of Illinois' public universities and touted as a potential model for an overhaul of the state's other funds received a hearing last week.

Three new advanced manufacturing centers at community colleges across Connecticut will receive $7.3 million for facility and equipment upgrades that the state's Bond Commission approved.

Oklahoma is seeking legal assurance that a state university bond program is constitutional.

Louisiana will issue $251.6 million of bonds for community college project under legislation signed into law Monday by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said there is not enough time left in the Legislature's special session to deal with college tuition revenue bonds.

The ratings of Illinois' eight public universities and their collective $2.5 billion of debt face a potential downgrade over exposure to the state's fiscal woes, Moody's investors Service warned.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a rule to establish a database for 529 college savings plans.

Key members of the Texas Legislature are developing plans to salvage $2 billion of college and university construction bonds in a special session whose only agenda involves redistricting.

Standard & Poor's dropped the rating on Rutgers University's general obligation debt to AA-minus from AA, citing risks associated with the planned merger with University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey.