Universities turn to bond market

Surging interest in Australian bonds is encouraging the country’s top universities to enter the market, as they seek to boost their ability to compete for overseas students, writes James Glynn for The Wall Street Journal.

The University of Melbourne more than doubled the size of a seven-year medium-term bond offering to raise A$250 million (US$234 million) last week. Its bond sale followed one by the University of Sydney, which raised A$200 million in April, also by issuing notes with a seven-year maturity.

The institutions are scrambling to raise money to improve their campuses, partly to compete with American and British institutions for overseas students from places such as China and India. The universities are also looking to fund research facilities and invest more in perceived high-growth areas, such as medical research.
Full report on The Wall Street Journal site