CWU Earns A1 Bond Rating

Moody’s Investors Service has reaffirmed Central Washington University's A-1 bond rating, which is effectively the highest rating a comprehensive university such as CWU can achieve, noted Joel Klucking, CWU chief financial officer and vice president for Business and Financial Affairs.

“This is important because an A-1 rating makes it cheaper to borrow money than it would be if we had received a lower, less favorable rating,” said Klucking, adding that Moody's gave CWU a “stable” outlook.

Klucking said the top rating came just as the Board of Trustees is authorizing the refinancing of the 2008 bonds sold to finance the construction of Wendell Hill Hall. Klucking estimated the refinancing would save more than $200,000 annually in interest expenses.

Klucking said that Moody's analysts “were particularly happy to hear about our enrollment gains last year and for the coming academic year.”

CWU set a record 21-percent increase in first-year students in 2015 and is set to come close to that mark again this fall. The back-to-back increases make CWU the fastest growing university in the state.

Klucking said Moody’s also noted the state support provided to off-set a 20-percent biennial reduction in tuition rates and the unprecedented state appropriation for construction projects. Since 2009, the state has invested nearly $220 million in the university's capital facilities. The bond rating analysis praised CWU's sound debt-service position.

Moody’s is a credit-rating agency that performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The rating is an assessment of the credit-worthiness of an institution—the likelihood that the institution will be able to service the bonds.

Moody’s issues ratings whenever an institution is preparing to issue bonds. CWU earned an A-1 rating for the first time in spring 2013.

Media contact: Linda Schactler, chief of staff/vice president of public affairs, 509-963-1384, schactler@cwu.edu

August 3, 2016