Moody's downgrades rating of California Western School of Law
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the bond rating on California Western School of Law in San Diego to reflect “materially worse than previously projected operating deficits.”
Moody’s downgraded the stand-alone school’s bonds from Baa3 from Baa1, according to a press release. The Washington Post reports on the negative outlook for the school in a story noted by Above the Law and TaxProf Blog.
Moody’s says the negative outlook partly reflects “expectations that the school will continue to draw down on its reserves to support its rightsizing efforts.” The bond rating agency notes, however, that the school has an “ample financial resource cushion to low amount of debt” and “very healthy liquid reserves.”
Moody’s has noted troubling times for law schools, according to the Washington Post. During the past decade, the number of law schools increased by 9 percent while the number of new students reached its lowest point since 1973, Moody’s said in a law school report.
