Three US colleges have been downgraded by credit-rating companies in the past two weeks in the latest sign of the growing demographic pressure hitting higher-education institutions.
Moody’s Ratings and S&P Global Ratings cited enrollment declines as a reason driving rating cuts for the three schools: two in Pennsylvania, and one in New York. The Northeast is one of the regions expected to be hit hard by a drop in high school graduates, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
Moody’s Ratings downgraded St. Lawrence University’s rating by one notch to Baa2, two steps above junk, citing “persistent student market challenges” and an 8.5% drop in full-time enrollment in the fall.
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Moody’s Ratings downgraded