Florida International University upgraded to AA by Fitch

Florida International University's issuer default rating was upgraded to AA from AA-minus by Fitch Ratings. The school's parking revenue bonds were upgraded to AA-minus from A-plus.

Simultaneously, Fitch affirmed its rating on the school's dormitory revenue refunding bonds at A-plus.

The outlooks are stable.

David Snider, senior vice president and chief financial officer at Florida International University, said the upgrades speak "to the financial discipline we've maintained as the university has grown. ? FIU is a preeminent state research university on a path to become a top 30 public institution by 2030, and everything we're seeing ? enrollment, housing demand, the overall trajectory ? tells us that the story is only getting stronger."

Fitch said, the default rating upgrade "reflects successive years of strong state operating support and student-generated revenues, improving adjusted cash flow and leverage metrics, including [in] unaudited fiscal 2025, following operating and expense pressures seen in fiscal years 2020-2022."

FIU will have about $1.1 billion in total debt following its expected pricing of $232.5 million dormitory bonds in the next few weeks, according to Moody's Ratings.

FIU has strong student demand and improved cash flow, Fitch said.

The upgrade to the parking system bonds reflects the broad and consistent base on which a mandatory transportation access fee is assessed and resilient coverage of debt service, Fitch said. The parking system had 2.2 times debt service coverage for the last three years.

Fitch said its A-plus rating on the housing revenue bonds stems from the relatively small scale of the system. Fitch expects weaker pro forma coverage as the university completes a planned expansion of its housing system, with a projected nadir of 1.36X in fiscal 2029.

FIU has Moody's ratings of Aa2 for issuer default and Aa3 for housing and parking bonds, with stable outlooks from Moody's. S&P Global Ratings rates the housing bonds A and its parking bonds AA-minus, with stable outlooks.