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January 3, 2020

Middletown’s Wesleyan University preps $75M bond offering; major campus upgrades planned

Photo | Contributed In early 2020, Wesleyan University is planning for a $75-million bond issue which will support construction on the Public Affairs Center.

Middletown’s Wesleyan University is planning a $75-million bond offering that will help fund major campus upgrades to its art, social science, and science academic buildings, officials said.

The private, nonprofit college, which serves nearly 3,000 full-time undergraduate students, said the bond funding will help with renovations or upgrades to the school’s Public Affairs Center (PAC) and science and art facilities. 

In December, Standard & Poor’s credit-rating agency affirmed a AA credit rating for the bond issue, while Moody’s affirmed its Aa3 rating, the school said. The plan is to close on the bond funding this month.

“This bond issue will support strategic investment in Wesleyan’s campus, the student experience, and faculty resources,” Wesleyan’s Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer and Treasurer Andrew Tanaka said in a statement. “We continue our focus on fiscal prudence and responsible stewardship of the generous donations made to Wesleyan. Our strong track record in this regard has helped Wesleyan build its capacity to borrow.”

Tanaka said borrowing now will allow Wesleyan to take advantage of historically low interest rates as the school pursues strategic campus investments.

Projects that will be helped by the funding, according to the school, include:

  • A major expansion of the Public Affairs Center, home of Wesleyan’s social sciences and located at the heart of campus. The updated building will be nearly 20 percent larger and feature a 75 percent increase in classroom space, as well as a new art gallery connecting to Olin Library. Classrooms and gathering spaces in the building will be flexible and modern, inspiring interaction among students and faculty across academic disciplines and fostering innovation. Funding from the bond issue will allow construction to begin as early as 2020.
  • The school plans to upgrade its science facilities, including Shanklin and Hall-Atwater, and the bond issue will accelerate the planning work. Work could include modernizing lab spaces, replacing front-facing lecture rooms with flexible spaces, including adjustable furniture and moveable equipment.
  • Wesleyan is also in the midst of a major expansion of its Center for Film Studies, with construction ongoing on a 16,000-square-foot addition, which will include a state-of-the-art production studio, 50-seat screening room, outdoor classroom and filming plaza, and a three-story house to be a dedicated space for on-site film shooting. Construction is expected to wrap up in mid-2020.

According to its investor’s prospectus, Wesleyan’s Middletown campus sits on 315 acres with 299 academic building totaling 2.76 million gross square feet. Its tuition is $56,704 for the 2019/2020 academic year, not including room and board, which cost an additional $15,723.

In fiscal 2019, the school recorded $231.5 million in revenues and had an operating margin of about $12 million. Its endowment is currently valued at about $1.1 billion.

Wesleyan isn’t the only area college planning a major expansion. 

The University of Hartford is planning a major $90 million campus upgrade that will include construction of a new $58-million, 62,000-square-foot academic building for engineering and nursing majors.
 

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