When the University decided that it would take on $500 million in debt to raise liquidity on March 6, Cornell’s financial officers went to work picking a date during which the bonds would fetch the best interest rate in this dramatically fluctuating market. The coupon rate, or rate of interest on which the bonds sell, depends heavily upon events like release of jobless rates, corporate earnings reports, other assets being sold that day and religious holidays, according to Joanne DeStefano, vice president of finance.

The University successfully sold $500 million in debt last week, as Cornell maintained its credit rating on one index but slipped a notch on another.

Investors fully subscribed to Cornell’s bond offerings in under 30 minutes last Thursday, according to Tommy Bruce, vice president of University Communications.

The bond offering was divided evenly between $250 million of 5-year bonds at a 4.35-percent interest rate and $250 million of 10-year at a 5.45-interest rate.

While the University has lines of credit and regularly sells-tax exempt bonds to finance construction, the sale of these taxable bonds are unusual. The magnitude of the offering is, in fact, unprecedented.

Following in the footsteps of Harvard, Princeton and Notre Dame, Cornell chose to sell $500 million of taxable bonds earlier this month in response to recent endowment losses.

In the face of a global financial crisis that has erased $29 trillion from the stock market in 2008, according to Bloomberg, the average university endowment has decreased by 24.1 percent across the U.S. in the past six months, according to the Stamford Advocate.

In December 2008, Harvard sold $2.5 billion in taxable bonds to repay borrowed funds. Princeton sold $1 billion in bonds in January, University of Pittsburgh plans to sell up to $421 million, Notre Dame already sold $150 million and University of Pennsylvania plans to sell $300 million, according to the Bond Buyer.