Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'AAA/A-1+' dual rating to Illinois Finance Authority's series 2008-B revenue bonds ($50 million) issued for Northwestern University, converting to an adjustable-rate mode on March 1, 2013. We based the 'A-1+' short-term rating component on the series 2008-B bonds on the self-liquidity provided by the university. The outlook on the 'AAA' long-term rating component remains stable. The 'A-1+' short-term rating component reflects our view of Northwestern's general credit strengths and considerable experience in managing its own liquidity. We believe Northwestern demonstrates sufficient liquid assets of high credit quality, largely in U.S. Treasuries, which it can use to cover the purchase price of variable-rate demand bonds or commercial paper (CP), which have been tendered, but
