Bond rating agencies use a host of metrics to assess an institution’s creditworthiness. Some of these metrics are quantitative; some are not. Financial ratios, therefore, are important criteria, but they are not the only ones used to evaluate the University’s credit and its debt capacity. The University’s credit strength is also highly dependent on maintaining its competitive advantages in higher education, the quality of its academic enterprise, and strong academic and financial management.
The University will set targets for several key ratios that assess the University’s overall financial health. These targets are set based on median ratios of similarly rated organizations published by Moody’s and Standard and Poors (S&P).
- Unrestricted Resources to Debt of at least 1.5:1.
This is a measure of the University’s leverage on its assets. Unrestricted Resources are defined as unrestricted net assets less net investment in plant, property, and equipment, plus long-term debt used to finance net investment in plant, property, and equipment.
- Expendable Resources to Operations of at least 1:1.
While this measure of liquidity is less directly affected by the issuance of new debt, it provides a useful indication of the institution’s financial cushion relative to operations and its ability to service debt. Expendable resources are defined as unrestricted net assets plus temporarily restricted net assets less net investment in plant, property and equipment plus long-term debt used to finance net investment in plant, property, and equipment. This ratio is also part of the covenants required by the University’s Letter of Credit arrangement.
- Debt Service to Operations should be maintained within a range of 4.5-10 percent.
Debt Service to Operations is the typical measure used to evaluate an institution’s use of borrowed funds. The use of debt with bullet or balloon structures that defer principal payments until far in the future makes the calculation of debt service more difficult. The University will include not only required annual principal and interest payments in its definition of debt service but also an annual equivalent for sinking funds. The University will take into consideration the use of debt that has accompanying revenue when additional debt takes the University’s Debt Service to Operations to the higher end of this range.