Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its long-term 'AAA' and short-term 'A-1+' ratings on Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) debt, issued by MIT and Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority. The ratings reflect the institute's unconditional GO pledge, supported by: Overwhelming demand, excellent student quality, and increasingly competitive admissions; A preeminent research program; Impressive financial resources and conservative management practices; and High, but still manageable, debt levels. The institute is providing its own liquidity to support the series J-1 and series J-2 variable-rate demand bonds. As of Sept. 30, 2006, MIT had a fixed-income portfolio of $1.3 billion, of which $905 million in cash, U.S. Treasuries, and U.S. government agency securities were adequate to cover the demand feature of $250