Fitch Upgrades A&T Issuer Default Rating, General Bond Rating to ‘AA’

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (July 10, 2025) – Fitch Ratings, the award-winning provider of credit ratings, commentary and research, has elevated North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s issuer default rating and general revenue bond rating from “AA-” to “AA.”

The bond rating maps to approximately $141 million general revenue bonds (GRBs) issued by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors on behalf of North Carolina A&T. Fitch, known as one of the “Big 3” credit ratings providers, designated the outlook for both ratings as “stable.”

“N.C. A&T’s upgrade to ‘AA’ reflects its solid enrollment and demand characteristics, including selectivity and matriculation rates,” notes Fitch in a news release announcing the new ratings. “…The upgrade further reflects the university’s strong flexibility to manage operating costs with consistently robust cash flow margins and steady balance sheet growth.”

Fitch favorably referenced A&T’s capital stability, including $164 million in operational support from the State of North Carolina and “consistent fundraising.” In 2020, A&T completed the largest capital campaign in public historically Black college and university history, with a total of $181.4 million raised. Since then, its fundraising has consistently totaled $25 million or more each year.

Fitch also had positive comments on the university’s financial leadership. “N.C. A&T’s operating performance and leverage ratios have improved steadily over the past two years, demonstrating the university’s financial management and attention to achieving fiscal balance.”

“As A&T continues to evolve and grow as an exponential, doctoral research university, we do so with prudent attention to our financial responsibilities and opportunities,” said Chancellor James R. Martin II. “In the coming school year, we will complete construction projects worth approximately $140 million, launch North Carolina’s first college degree in artificial intelligence along with other new degree programs and welcome approximately 14,500 students to Greensboro. And we’ll do all of that as we continue our path toward attaining the R1 designation in the Carnegie Classification for Institutions of Higher Education.

“It is gratifying to see our institutional accomplishments, including sound management of our financial resources, reflected in these new ratings.”

Click here to read Fitch Rating’s news release.