Munis

New Jersey is seeking applications from the state's colleges and universities for $750 million in bonds approved by voters in the Building Our Future Bond Act in November.

Attempts to reduce student debt will not likely have any financial impact on colleges and universities, Fitch Ratings said in a recent report.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is challenging the nonprofit status of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania's largest employer.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded four of Illinois' public universities and left intact the ratings of four others in a review of $2.6 billion of rated debt sparked by late last year by the state's deteriorating credit.

Standard & Poor's has raised Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group's rating by one notch to A in recognition of the system's new patient tower and good operating performance.

Chicago-based Roosevelt University's was downgraded by Fitch Ratings last week and faces further deterioration in the assignment of a negative outlook as the school struggles with enrollment challenges.

The University of Chicago plans to sell up to $400 million of debt through the Illinois Finance Authority to refund existing bonds and finance an ongoing capital program that includes new and renovated facilities.

Standard & Poor's has downgraded Dowling College in New York to B from BB. The rating remains on CreditWatch with negative implications.

A judge has overturned a step by the State University of New York aimed at restoring financial health to the SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

The board of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York approved $298 million in new bonds.

Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service both gave a double-A ratings to a $75.4 million planned March 18 sale by the California State Public Works board for University of California Santa Barbara.

Indiana University Health, one of the state's largest health care providers, announced this week it is taking "a step back" on a planned new patient tower that carried a price tag as high as $500 million.

The decline in college savings among Americans is a credit negative for the higher education sector, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Connecticut's Bond Commission will vote on more than $37 million in capital improvement projects for community colleges at its special meeting.

Fitch Ratings last week affirmed its B rating on Midland University and revised its outlook to stable.

The University of Massachusetts Building Authority plans a $270 million bond sale to benefit capital projects at the system's five campuses statewide.

Maricopa County Community College District will raise its property tax rate and tuition as state aid continues to decline.

The Internal Revenue Service has closed its audit of $162.53 million of general fee revenue bonds issued by Auburn University, Ala., in 2007 with no change the bonds' tax-exempt status.

Voters on March 5 will select three new trustees for a seven-person Los Angeles Community College District board in a district that has been riddled with controversy.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has signed House Bill 7, which allows the state's public universities to issue $363.3 million of own bonds secured by specific fees to fulfill pent-up capital needs.