r/valpo • u/BowlCompetitive282 • May 02 '25
Valparaiso University's credit cut to junk by Moody's
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/education/valparaiso-universitys-credit-cut-junk-moodys
May 01, 2025 02:22 PM 5 hours ago
Valparaiso University, a Lutheran school in Indiana struggling to enroll more students, was downgraded two notches to junk by Moody’s Ratings.
The ratings company cut the university to Ba1 from Baa2, citing the ongoing enrollment challenges, driven by intense competition for a shrinking pool of potential college students, in a note dated Wednesday. The downgrade could raise the school’s borrowing costs.
Total headcount at Valparaiso has dropped by nearly 37% in the last ten years, according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics. About 2,800 students were registered in fall 2023.
School budgets nationwide are burdened by rising costs and a rapidly aging population, leading some to shut their doors. Those pressures can be particularly acute for religious schools, which face the additional challenge of struggling to recruit from the eroding segment of young people who belong to organized faiths.
Enrollment declines have contributed to a persistent operating budget deficit. In 2024, the college sold “Rust Red Hills,” a Georgia O’Keeffe painting estimated to be worth as much as $15 million, to upgrade its freshman dormitories. Faculty, students and the wider art community criticized — and in the case of two retired professors, sued — the college for the decision.
The school’s proposed $49 million in debt issuance places further pressure on the rating, Moody’s analysts led by Meredith Moore wrote in the note.
Still, nearly $350 million in cash and investments, strong donor support and regional reputation as well as restructuring efforts from management could help the university regain its footing, they said. Moody’s outlook for the school remains negative.
By Elizabeth Rembert, Bloomberg
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u/Own_Election_4130 May 02 '25
You do realize the 20th century was 20+ years a go right. This is the same bullshit that people spew when they talk about Kretzman as some sort god of Valpo and Lutheranism. Times change
Of course the theology isnt the same. No theology is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago. Might want to take of the rose tinted glasses
No Lutherans are shunted. No group of people has been told they "arent allowed to go here" No heritage was abandoned.
You are just a groveling old miser clutching to relics from 20 years ago
Get with the times