Our Purpose
The Washington Higher Education Facilities Authority was created in
1983. The statutory purpose of the Authority is to:
" . . . enable the building, providing, and utilization of modern,
well-equipped, efficient, and reasonably priced higher educational
facilities, as well as the improvement, expansion, and modernization of
such facilities, in a manner that will minimize the capital cost of
construction, financing, and use of such facilities."
The Authority fulfills its purpose of minimizing the financing costs of
higher education facilities through the issuance of tax-exempt,
nonrecourse revenue bonds for the independent qualified institutions of
higher education in Washington State.
Higher education facilities may use the bond proceeds for refinancing
outstanding debt, remodeling or renovation, new construction, equipment
purchases, and other approved purposes.
Historically, tax-exempt interest rates for higher education bonds have
been two to three percentage points lower than interest rates for
conventional higher education debt, resulting in a considerable cost
savings to the universities using the Authority for their debt issues.
The bonds are payable solely from payments made by the independent
colleges and universities. The bonds do not constitute an obligation of
the state of Washington, or a pledge of the faith and credit of the
state.
Under the Washington Statute, the ex-officio members of the Authority
include the Governor (Chair of the Authority), the Lieutenant Governor,
and the Executive Director of the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
The Governor appoints four public members, one of whom must be the
president of an institution of higher education.
This page was modified on 06/30/2007. |
