Iowa Wesleyan University

Iowa Wesleyan University (IWU) refinanced its loan and bond obligations to take advantage of low interest rates. A non-profit foundation owns the real estate and leases it to IWU under a sale and leaseback structure. Lease payments from IWU match the foundation’s debt service obligations. The refinance was facilitated by a fixed rate direct loan from USDA of $21.4 Million combined with a $5 Million USDA guaranteed Community Facility loan. IWU, established in 1842, is the oldest four-year co-ed liberal arts university west of the Mississippi. A 30+ year term on both loans and a fixed-rate loan structure optimized the monthly payment for the University and created an upper bound on debt service obligations.

The university has pioneered daring and unconventional educational policies and practices. Soon after founding, it admitted and graduated women, its first black student, its first international student and its first female law student who became the first woman admitted to the bar in the U.S. The university pioneered the idea of connecting classroom learning with service to others some 45 years ago and was ranked 21st best baccalaureate college in the nation in the area of service-learning in 2015. Last year their RN to BSN program was ranked among the top 50 most affordable online nursing programs in the country. Located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa the University offers a variety of arts and cultural opportunities for southeast Iowa.

USAF is proud to have played our role in providing liquidity as well as a profitable and efficient secondary market execution for the lender. If you are currently working on a loan with a complex structure and need guidance and certainty of execution, USAF should be your first call. They have both lending and secondary market experience to help guide you through the volatile fixed income markets.