Campus construction and renovation projects often come with hefty price tags. A few years ago, Duke University spent nearly $80 million on a new dining hall. Two recent projects that SmithGroupJJR designed include the $50 million Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University, now under construction in downtown Detroit, and the $82 million, 188,000-sf University of Wisconsin–LaCrosse Instructional Science Facility, a combination of allied health and STEM that will open next year.
As colleges sign off on ever-more-extravagant physical plant to help in their recruitment efforts, tuition hikes are putting college beyond the financial reach of the high school students they are trying to attract.
But colleges and universities are adept at tapping a variety of sources—taxpayers, investors, donors, and, yes, students—to fund their growth ambitions.
Bonds are one time-tested route. The University of New Mexico’s five-building construction program is being paid for primarily with bonds. Last year, North Carolina completed a $2 billion issue of Connect Bonds, $1.33 billion of which are earmarked for the 17 colleges in its UNC system.
Other colleges are asking their student bodies to approve annual user fees that would defray the cost of planned construction and renovation before the work gets started.
The University of New Mexico’s five-building construction program is being financed by a combination of bonds, student fees, school funds, and private donations. Courtesy University of New Mexico.
State governments are also willing to finance college construction, albeit on a limited basis. Supplemental funding by the Massachusetts State Legislature helped pay for the $52 million, 87,500-sf Design Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which had its official ribbon cutting in April. This is the first cross-laminated timber academic building in the U.S.
Greggrey Cohen, Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger’s National Practice Leader for structural repair and rehabilitation, who worked on the UMass Design Building, says that in recent years there has been a “big push” among colleges and universities in the Bay State to replace older buildings.
“The underlying strategy of our capital plan is to target investment in the areas of the highest impact, while balancing these investments across deferred maintenance, modernization, and new construction,” says Shane Conklin, UMass’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities and Campus Services. Construction projects scheduled to open in the next two years include the relocation of a physical sciences building that will be integrated with a new 95,000-sf research building for chemistry and physics.
This isn’t to say that colleges and universities have unlimited access to capital. And their “reno-first” inclinations are a sign of their budgetary constraints.
“Everyone is still money conscious,” says Robert Quigley, of Architectural Resources Cambridge. His firm went through numerous meetings with Bentley University’s board before its Jennison Hall renovation budget got approved. “They are also conscious of the mistakes they made in the past being cheap,” he says. “They want to do a quality job.”
Related Stories
| Aug 9, 2016
Top 70 University Engineering Firms
AECOM, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Jacobs top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest university sector engineering and E/A firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 9, 2016
Top 100 University Construction Firms
Turner Construction Co., The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co, and Skanska USA top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest university sector construction and construction management firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 9, 2016
Top 100 University Architecture Firms
Gensler, Perkins+Will, and CannonDesign top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest university sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
University Buildings | Aug 5, 2016
How to design the best dining facilities for Millennial students
Location, visibility, and adaptability are three important ideas to keep in mind when designing campus dining spaces, writes Gresham Smith and Partners’ Patrick Gilbert.
Higher Education | Jun 30, 2016
10 ideas for tomorrow’s campus
Academic incubators that bridge school and the workplace are transforming design in higher education. Gensler's David Broz offers 10 ways colleges can modernize and shift away from traditional learning environments.
Office Buildings | Jun 10, 2016
Form4 designs curved roofs for project at Stanford Research Park
Fabricated of painted recycled aluminum, the wavy roofs at the Innovation Curve campus will symbolize the R&D process and make four buildings more sustainable.
University Buildings | Jun 9, 2016
Designing for interdisciplinary communication in university buildings
Bringing people together remains the main objective when designing academic projects. SRG Design Principal Kent Duffy encourages interaction and discovery with a variety of approaches.
Education Facilities | Jun 1, 2016
Gensler reveals designs for 35-acre AltaSea Campus at the Port of Los Angeles
New and renovated facilities will help researchers, educators, and visitors better understand the ocean.
University Buildings | May 26, 2016
U. of Chicago approves Diller Scofidio + Renfro design for new campus building
With a two-story base and 165-foot tower, the Rubenstein Forum will have room for informal meetings, lectures, and other university events.
University Buildings | Apr 25, 2016
New University of Calgary research center features reconfigurable 'spine'
The heart of the Taylor Institute can be anything from a teaching lab to a 400-seat theater.