OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings lowered to 'A' from 'A+' its long-term rating and underlying rating (SPUR) on Nebraska State College Board of Trustees' outstanding student fees and facilities revenue bonds, and Nebraska State College Facilities Corp.'s series 2006 bonds, all issued for Nebraska State College system (NSC or the system). The outlook is stable. S&P Global Ratings also assigned its 'A' long-term rating and stable outlook to the corporation's approximately $27.5 million series 2016 deferred maintenance and refunding bonds, issued for NSC.

"The downgrade reflects our view of the system's declining, though reasonable, available resources and trend of operating deficits on a generally accepted accounting principles basis, continued modest decline in enrollment, weak demand profile, and consistent operating deficits for the past several years," said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Ashley Ramchandani. The stable outlook is based on the application of our updated criteria, "Methodology: Not-For-Profit Public And Private Colleges And Universities", published Jan. 6, 2016.

We assessed the system's enterprise profile as adequate, characterized by modest declines in total headcount year over year, its status as one of only two four-year public higher education systems in Nebraska, and a stable management team. Despite these strengths, we believe that the system has a limited demand profile with low retention. We assessed the system's financial profile as very strong, characterized by stable state funding and satisfactory available resource ratios that are consistent with the 'A' rating category. Partially offsetting these factors are the system's relatively high debt burden and slim operating margins in recent years compared with historically robust operating margins. Combined, we believe these credit factors lead to an indicative stand-alone credit profile of 'a' and a long-term of 'A'.