Individual Oxford colleges – there are thirty-eight altogether – have issued bonds in the past, but this will be a first for the ancient University as a whole. Timed to perfection for its upcoming bond issue, Moody’s today assigned a ‘AAA’ credit rating, with a stable outlook, to the 900-year old institution.
According to Moody’s, “The Aaa issuer rating assigned to Oxford reflects its extraordinary market position as one of the world’s elite universities, ensuring consistent student demand and wide-ranging support from the government, donors, and research funding bodies.”
Oxford has seen consistently strong demand from students, both domestic and international, which we expect to continue. Total student numbers have grown steadily over the last five years driven by increases in postgraduate students, reaching 22,602 in 2016. Despite the very strong demand, unlike many of its Russell Group peers, Oxford’s strategy is not reliant on growth in student numbers and the University intends to maintain its undergraduate numbers at current levels.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 29, 2017.
Follow on Twitter
Recent Comments