...S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term rating to '###-' from '###' on the Northeastern Pennsylvania Hospital & Education Authority's series 2012A, 2016A, and 2016B revenue bonds and the City of Wilkes-Barre Finance Authority, Pa.'s series 2019 taxable revenue bonds, issued for Wilkes University (Wilkes). The outlook is stable. The lower rating reflects our view of Wilkes' softening available resource levels brought on by highly cash intensive capital projects and further limited by two consecutive years of full accrual operating deficits. Compared to rating category medians and similarly rated peers, available resource ratios remain very weak. In part driving the operational challenges is sustained pressure on the university's enterprise profile with weak undergraduate trends, though management did record a 10.3% increase in graduate enrollment which contributed to only a modest decrease in total FTE in fall 2020. In part due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Wilkes has also seen matriculation...
