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
Giants 400 | Sep 28, 2023
Top 80 University Building Engineering Firms for 2023
AECOM, Jacobs, BR+A, and Salas O'Brien head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest university sector engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue for all university/college-related buildings except student residence halls, sports/recreation facilities, laboratories, S+T-related buildings, parking facilities, and performing arts centers (revenue for those buildings are reported in their respective Giants 400 ranking).
Giants 400 | Sep 28, 2023
Top 100 University Building Construction Firms for 2023
Turner Construction, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., STO Building Group, Suffolk Construction, and Skanska USA top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest university sector contractors and construction management firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue for all university/college-related buildings except student residence halls, sports/recreation facilities, laboratories, S+T-related buildings, parking facilities, and performing arts centers (revenue for those buildings are reported in their respective Giants 400 ranking).
University Buildings | Sep 27, 2023
Top 170 University Building Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, CannonDesign, Page Southerland Page, SmithGroup, and Ayers Saint Gross top the ranking of the nation's largest university sector architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Contractors | Sep 25, 2023
Balfour Beatty expands its operations in Tampa Bay, Fla.
Balfour Beatty is expanding its leading construction operations into the Tampa Bay area offering specialized and expert services to deliver premier projects along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Affordable Housing | Sep 25, 2023
3 affordable housing projects that serve as social catalysts
Trish Donnally, Associate Principal, Perkins Eastman, shares insights from three transformative affordable housing projects.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 115 Architecture Engineering Firms for 2023
Stantec, HDR, Page, HOK, and Arcadis North America top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
2023 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
A record 552 AEC firms submitted data for BD+C's 2023 Giants 400 Report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 175 Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, HKS, Perkins&Will, Corgan, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Higher Education | Aug 22, 2023
How boldly uniting divergent disciplines boosts students’ career viability
CannonDesign's Charles Smith and Patricia Bou argue that spaces designed for interdisciplinary learning will help fuel a strong, resilient generation of students in an ever-changing economy.
Higher Education | Aug 7, 2023
Building a better academic workplace
Gensler's David Craig and Melany Park show how agile, efficient workplaces bring university faculty and staff closer together while supporting individual needs.