Bond-Rating Agency Warns That Illinois Universities Could Be Downgraded

Last week the credit-rating agency Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the debt issued by the State of Illinois, potentially increasing the amount of interest it must pay future buyers of state bonds. Now Moody’s is warning that the state’s public universities may be in for the same treatment. The agency, which rates seven of the state’s nine public universities, said in a news release on Sunday that the institutions could run short of cash because of their dependence on money from the state, which is late in sending money to the institutions.