<p>If you google it, sometimes you can find the bond rating report for an individual college online, which summarizes the analysis and discusses issues for that college.</p>
<p>The bond ratings certainly consider endowment (like US News) and other resources, but put much more emphasis on proper management of debt and discipline in spending. The bond ratings also typically consider whether there is strong demand for the seats in a college, in terms of acceptance rate, yield, etc. They are worried about colleges that could suffer declining enrollments in the future, and therefore have trouble paying back their debt. </p>
<p>There are some colleges that appear to have a large endowment, but their debt is actually greater than their endowment. Some debt is proper for long-term capital improvements, but excessive debt levels can strangle a college over time. I’ve heard of one private university that has debt with giant balloon payments due in the near future, and people wonder how they will pay for it. </p>