Will Brunelle is reporting at Capital New York Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is facing debts and liabilities of nearly $1 billion, and has seen a sharp decline in its overall net assets over the past 13 years, according to an analysis of the school’s tax returns by the the student newspaper, "The Polytechnic." The university, located in Troy, had the value of its assets decrease by 55 percent since the year 2000. In addition, the university ended nine of the last 13 years with an operational deficit, including $18.1 million at the end of 2013, according to the paper. The report assigned much of the blame to R.P.I.'s decision in 2001 to build the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, for which it issued $160 million in bonds to help cover construction costs. Those costs ended up being much higher than originally projected. David Brond, R.P.I.'s vice president of strategic communications and external relations, said the school has “balanced the operating budget, every year, for the past 15 years,” though he did not dispute the deficits or total liabilities cited by the student paper. "The Polytechnic's" full report can be found at Poly [dot] RPI [dot] edu. Read the full story at Capital New York.