Moody's: Brandeis a more risky investment

Brandeis University in Waltham has been judged a more risky financial investment by the ratings firm Moody’s Investors Service as the school seeks to sell nearly $180 million in bonds this week, mainly to help it refund existing debt, the Boston Business Journal has reported.

Moody's lowered Brandeis’s rating to A1 from Aa3 because of what it sees as the school's long-term "history of operating losses," recent investment losses, several years of heightened endowment spending, and a 12 percent decline in students applying to be freshmen in fall 2009. Though the agency noted that Brandeis has made moves to cut costs by cutting faculty and reducing the number of doctoral students, plus applications for fall 2010 seem to be up.

Boston Business Journal reported that "Moody’s said the school suffered a 17 percent investment loss during the fiscal year that ended June 30. But since then, investments have recovered along with the overall stock market. The endowment’s total was about $619 million as of Dec. 31, Moody’s said."