The turmoil which gripped the University of Missouri's Columbia campus last fall has lead to a downgrade of the University of Missouri's credit outlook from stable to negative by Standard & Poor's. The civil unrest lead to the departure of several high level administrators from the University. Standard & Poor's currently rates the University of Missouri's credit as AA+ which leaves substantial distance before catching up to Illinois Universities whose credit ratings are falling into junk status with the rest of Illinois' public debts.