...Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its rating on Northampton County General Purpose Authority, Pa.'s series 2012 and series 2013 college general revenue bonds, issued for Moravian College, to '###+' from 'A-'. At the same time, Standard & Poor's lowered its issuer credit rating on Moravian College to '###+' from 'A-'. The outlook is stable. We base the downgrade on Moravian's plans to issue approximately $27 million in additional debt in the next three months. This, along with $6 million in bank debt that the college incurred in fiscal 2016, increases Moravian's debt substantially, making its financial resources more in line with those of '###+' peers. The '###+' rating reflects our view of the college's high reliance on student-generated revenues and high debt burden. Recent improvement to enrollment and positive full accrual operations in fiscal 2015 after incurring deficits for the past two years partially offset these credit weaknesses. More specifically, the '###+' rating...
