Moody's Downgrades Laureate Education

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating of Laureate Education, a for-profit chain with a large global footprint. The credit ratings agency also downgraded Laureate last year. In both cases it cited the company's expansion, which has contributed to debt levels. Laureate now enrolls more than one million students at 80 campus-based and online institutions.

"Laureate's aggressive growth has created persistently high leverage and has strained the company's liquidity," said David Berge, a Moody's analyst, in a written statement.