Syracuse University earns highest short-term credit rating from Standard and Poor’s

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Standard and Poor’s (S&P) credit-rating service has assigned Syracuse University an A-1+ credit rating for its short-term notes program.

This is the “highest” rating of this type that S&P assigns, representing a “reflection of the university’s overall fiscal health and its capacity to meet its borrowing obligations,” Syracuse University said in a news release posted on its website this week.

“We assessed Syracuse’s enterprise profile as very strong, characterized by a solid management team, a history of stable to slightly growing enrollment and good retention,” the S&P report said, as noted in the university’s release. “We assessed Syracuse’s financial profile as strong, characterized by consistently positive operating surpluses on a full-accrual basis, low debt burden and solid available resource ratios as reflected in the cash and investments.”

A short-term obligation rated “A-1” is in the highest category of S&P Global Ratings and “reflects a strong capacity for the obligated party to meet its financial commitment.”

The added plus sign (+), such as that assigned to Syracuse University, indicates that the university’s “capacity to meet its financial commitments is extremely strong.”

“I am pleased that the university has earned Standard and Poor’s highest credit rating for its short-term notes program,” Amir Rahnamay-Azar, senior VP and CFO at Syracuse University, said in the school’s release. “It is a clear indicator of the university’s solid financial health as well as its overall stability within the higher-education marketplace.”

The report also “reaffirmed” Syracuse’s previously assigned AA- long-term credit rating based on its “strong” operating performance and cash and investment ratios, the university said.

S&P Global Ratings provides credit ratings on government, corporate, financial sector, and structured finance entities and securities. Its ratings serve as a “tool for potential investors to assess risk and gauge an entity’s creditworthiness,” the release stated.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com