Moody’s Investors Service has placed two colleges that invested in Commonfund’s short-term fund on a watch list for credit-rating downgrades and has issued a negative ratings outlook for a third.

The colleges — Franklin Pierce University, Simmons College, and Suffolk University — are among 1,000 institutions that had their short-term accounts frozen by Wachovia Bank, the account manager, in late September. As of October 21, such colleges were able to get access to 48 percent of their original balances.

Moody’s, which is analyzing the effect of the freeze on colleges’ ability to operate and make debt payments, stressed in a report issued today that the ratings revisions were not based solely on the colleges’ exposure to Commonfund. Other factors taken into account were an inability or unwillingness to secure capital elsewhere, a history of weak operating performance, and high levels of variable-rate debt.

Moody’s is focusing its review on the more than 260 rated institutions with investments in the fund, and it has received responses from 242 of those colleges. So far, it has not taken action against the ratings of any of the institutions.

In its report, Moody’s said that the “overwhelming majority” of colleges have dealt with the freeze with “only minor budgetary or liquidity adjustments.” It attributed colleges’ general resilience to their conservative management strategies, their access to lines of credit and quasi-endowment funds, and their holding of fixed-rate debt.

The report is not currently available online. To obtain a copy, send e-mail to higher.education@moodys.com. —Kelly Field