For-Profit Colleges' Uncertain Future Puts $1.8B In CMBS At Risk

University Of Phoenix

Government scrutiny and poor public perception of the for-profit education industry is intensifying the risk on up to $1.88B in CMBS loans. The industry is reeling from investigations and settlements. As a result, owners of for-profits colleges have closed hundreds of locations, shuttering entire brands, like Corinthian Colleges, formerly a tenant in collateral backing $82.3M in CMBS loans. Data from Morningstar predicts about $3.2M in losses on two loans tied to Corinthian.

Eleven loans totaling $144.7M, or 7.7% of loans backed by for-profit colleges, are with special servicers, more than double the 3.7% rate of specially serviced loans for all CMBS in April. Morningstar forecasts $51.8M in losses on nine of the 11 loans.

Graduates

The University Of Phoenix, owned by Apollo Education Group, is the largest for-profit education institution in the US, and a tenant at properties backing $241.6M in CMBS. The system recently closed 115 locations, as enrollment fell from 470,000 in 2010 to 179,000 in 2016. Apollo Education Group is the only tenant in its HQ on a lease that expires in 2031, which backs a $91.5M loan.

Morningstar's largest projected loss is $16.5M on the $32M Gateway Chula Vista II loan in Southern California. The collateral's second-largest tenant is San Joaquin Valley College, but Morningstar says the loss has more to due with the property's history than the college itself.

Strayer University
Wikimedia

Making matters worse, for-profit tenants backing more than 13.8% of the loans, or $259.1M, have leases that expire through 2017, furthering uncertainty over for-profit exposure. The bulk of the exposure, $174.5M, is concentrated in three tenants: The University Of Phoenix, DeVry and Strayer University. 

Strayer ($122.6M in CMBS), whose programs have not failed any of the government's recently implemented regulations, is a tenant in six properties with leases expiring through December 2017. While Strayer has stayed on the right side of regulations, enrollment has fallen nearly 50% since 2010, and the system closed 20 locations in 2013.

Le Cordon Bleu

Such troubles from a once booming industry have earned it a very short leash. The government now classifies these institutions as under heightened cash monitoring. Notable for-profit institutions on the March 2016 Heightened Cash Monitoring list include campuses for Education Management Corp-owned Art Institutes ($211.3M in CMBS exposure), ITT Technical Institute ($110.2M), and Career Education Corp-owned Le Cordon Bleu ($39.2M).

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