 "Cornell eyes $1 billion bond sale amid Trump's higher education squeeze")
By Faith DiBiagio
Cornell University is considering raising roughly $1 billion through taxable bonds, the latest elite US college looking to secure financing as the Trump administration targets the institutions.
The Ivy League university expects to price the bonds as soon as Nov. 17 and plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, according to a filing published on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s website. It has tapped Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as the sole bookrunner on the deal.
Top-tier schools in recent months have sold taxable bonds and taken out loans to protect their finances as the Trump administration targets their budgets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Cornell earlier this year increased the size of its taxable commercial paper programme, another way for colleges to preserve cash and fund campus projects.
The notice didn’t address the uncertainty around federal funding, but Cornell’s leadership in late August said the university needed to reduce spending and restructure amid a range of pressures, including the Trump administration’s attack on research funding.
Cornell holds an Aa1 rating from Moody’s Ratings and an AA rating from S&P Global Ratings. The school previously sold $500 million of taxable bonds in 2024. Unlike tax-exempt bonds, the sale of taxable debt offers colleges more flexibility in terms of what they can use the proceeds for.
Cornell did not respond to request for comment on the potential sale.