DBRS Updates Public Universities Business and Financial Risk Assessments Scorecard

Following the release of the updated “Rating Public Universities” methodology on May 8, 2018, DBRS Limited (DBRS) updated the DBRS Public Universities Business and Financial Risk Assessments scorecard. The goal of the scorecard is to provide additional insight into how DBRS determines ratings. The table provides an overview of the key metrics that may influence public university credit ratings. The assessments are measured using the same scale as DBRS’s rating scale and are provided for each business and financial risk factor important to the sector.

In the methodology update, DBRS refined the ratio of Debt Per Full-Time Equivalent that it uses to measure the indebtedness of a university by indexing it to reflect inflation. The update has resulted in positive adjustments to the Financial Risk Assessment scores for Debt Per Full-Time Equivalent for certain DBRS-rated universities, including Brock University, Concordia University, University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, University of Windsor and York University. The update did not result in any rating changes.

Notes:
DBRS rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available at www.dbrs.com.

DBRS’s methodologies and criteria are available at www.dbrs.com or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.