Standard&Poor's Ratings Services has affirmed its 'AAA' and 'A-1+' ratings on the debt issued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The ratings reflect the institute's unconditional general obligation 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, 2005, MIT had a fixed-income portfolio of $863 million, of which cash, U.S. Treasuries, and U.S. government agency securities totaling $435 million were adequate to cover the demand feature of $250 million of variable-rate demand debt, providing
