The Compton Community College District sold $35 million in bonds to finance improvements to its facilities.
The bonds mature between 2024 and 2043, yielding between 2.4% and 3.62%. They received an insured rating of AA from S&P Global Ratings, which assigned an underlying rating of AA-. Moody’s Investors Service assigned an underlying rating Aa3.
“The Aa3 rating primarily reflects the district’s large tax base we expect will continue growing despite below-average resident incomes,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
The bond proceeds will fund the revitalization of Compton College, a two-year college in Compton, California. In 2005, Compton College became the first public institution of higher education in California to lose its accreditation. That year, a longstanding corruption problem caught up with the school, culminating in fiscal insolvency. For the next 12 years, Compton College operated as part of the nearby El Camino College.
Then, in 2017, Compton College regained its accreditation. It has used a series of bond issuances to improve its facilities since that year. Including the 2024 issuance, the district has sold $165 million in bonds since 2017.
The 2024 bonds are general obligations of the district, payable by property taxes. The district now has $151 million in general obligation debt outstanding, according to Moody’s.
BofA Securities, Inc served as lead underwriter on the issuance, purchasing the bonds for $38.5 million.