By Jeff Murphy,
May 31, 2016
WARRENSBURG, MO – A positive indication of the University of Central Missouri’s financial
stability and ability to manage credit came in May as Standard & Poor’s Global ratings
announced it has revised UCM’s rating on Missouri Health & Educational Authority’s
bonds from "A" to “A+." This applies to the security for the series 2012A revenue
bonds, which were issued to refinance the University Housing system energy savings
project and library facility construction; series 2013B-2 bonds issued for improvements
at Audrey J. Walton Stadium at Vernon Kennedy Field; and series 2013C-2 educational
facilities revenue bonds to help construct The Crossing–South at Holden student housing-retail
project.
“This upgraded S&P rating comes with an incredible sense of appreciation for our Board
of Governors and a lot of people on campus who have worked hard to provide good stewardship
reporting related to our capital projects,” said University President Charles Ambrose.
“It is reflective of our campus-wide commitment to student success and institutional
performance. The S&P rating also validates the importance of our three key performance
indicators of growth with quality, student success, and sustainability/efficiency
and their contributions to UCM’s positive financial outlook.”
S&P Global Ratings Analyst Ashley Ramchandani noted in a press release that the higher
rating reflects UCM’s improved credit fundamentals and strong available resources.
The release also stated that the security for the series 2013B-2, 2013-C, and 2012A
is viewed by S&P Global as an unlimited student-fee equivalent pledge of the university,
since pledged revenues exclude only state operating appropriations and funds pledged
to the payment of certain housing system revenue bonds.
“We assessed UCM’s enterprise profile as strong, characterized by consistent enrollment
growth, a good demand profile with moderate selectivity, and solid matriculation,”
Ramchandani said.
She added that S&P Global assessed UCM’s financial profile as “very strong, with consistently
positive operations, healthy available resources, and reasonable debt burden. Combined,
we believe these credit factors lead to an indicative stand-alone profile of ‘A+’
and final rating of ‘A+.”
“The stable outlook reflects our expectation that during the two-year outlook period,
UCM’s operating results will remain positive on a full-accrual basis, enrollment will
rise as expected by management, and financial resources will continued to grow,” Ramchandani
said. “We expect any additional debt issuance to be commensurate with maintenance
or growth of financial resource ratios.”
