flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Higher education construction costs for 2023

Higher Education

Higher education construction costs for 2023

Fresh data from Gordian breaks down the average cost per square foot for a two-story college classroom building across 10 U.S. cities.


By Gordian  | April 13, 2023
Higher education construction costs for 2023
Photo: Pixabay

Colleges and universities manage more than 6 billion square feet of campus space in 210,000 buildings nationwide, with a replacement value of $2 trillion and a backlog of urgent capital renewal needs exceeding $112 billion.

The state of campus facilities will define the financial future of higher ed institutions more than any other single factor. Data collected from a thorough assessment of campus conditions should be used to prioritize building portfolio needs and establish a strategic framework for linking today’s investment realities with future campus aspirations.

Readying campus facilities for future students can take the form of renovations, updates or wholesale replacement, with the driver of that decision based in the alignment of available resources with institutional programmatic priorities. 

As North America’s leading construction cost database, Gordian’s RSMeans Data has been synonymous with reliability since the 1940s, so you can trust it when budgeting for projects that will transform your campus for students, alumni, professors and staff.

With localized square-foot costs on over 100 building models, Gordian’s RSMeans Data allows architects, engineers and other preconstruction professionals to quickly and accurately create conceptual estimates for future builds. This table shows the most recent costs per square foot for two-story college classrooms in select cities, with sustainable, “green” building considerations. 

Visit rsmeans.com/bdandc for more information about Gordian’s RSMeans Data.

Cost per Square Foot for Two-Story College Classrooms with Green Building Considerations

City

2020

2021

2022

2023

National Average

$220.32

$221.38

$229.47

$243.54

Athens, GA

$178.55

$175.75

$182.06

$188.76

Austin, TX

$176.56

$179.01

$183.94

$196.80

Tuscaloosa, AL

$186.09

$186.01

$194.43

$207.45

Tempe, AR

$188.93

$188.88

$194.50

$207.94

Charlottesville, VA

$185.32

$190.71

$196.39

$201.75

Boulder, CO

$195.82

$193.08

$201.54

$210.98

Bloomington, IN

$199.80

$199.26

$206.05

$216.72

Ann Arbor, MI

$216.59

$219.54

$224.73

$235.17

Madison, WI

$216.75

$224.27

$227.99

$242.15

Berkeley, CA

$280.11

$283.40

$287.92

$303.11

Please note: Square foot models are used for planning and budgeting and are not meant for detailed estimates.

 

Related Stories

| Nov 7, 2013

Fitness center design: What do higher-ed students want?

Campus fitness centers are taking their place alongside student centers, science centers, and libraries as hallmark components of a student-life experience. Here are some tips for identifying the ideal design features for your next higher-ed fitness center project. 

| Nov 5, 2013

Oakland University’s Human Health Building first LEED Platinum university building in Michigan [slideshow]

Built on the former site of a parking lot and an untended natural wetland, the 160,260-sf, five-story, terra cotta-clad building features some of the industry’s most innovative, energy-efficient building systems and advanced sustainable design features.

| Oct 31, 2013

74 years later, Frank Lloyd Wright structure built at Florida Southern College

The Lakeland, Fla., college adds to its collection of FLW buildings with the completion of the Usonian house, designed by the famed architect in 1939, but never built—until now. 

| Oct 30, 2013

11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013

If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.

| Oct 28, 2013

Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it

Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.

| Oct 18, 2013

Researchers discover tension-fusing properties of metal

When a group of MIT researchers recently discovered that stress can cause metal alloy to fuse rather than break apart, they assumed it must be a mistake. It wasn't. The surprising finding could lead to self-healing materials that repair early damage before it has a chance to spread. 

| Oct 15, 2013

15 great ideas from the Under 40 Leadership Summit – Vote for your favorite!

Sixty-five up-and-coming AEC stars presented their big ideas for solving pressing social, economic, technical, and cultural problems related to the built environment. Which one is your favorite?

| Oct 7, 2013

10 award-winning metal building projects

The FDNY Fireboat Firehouse in New York and the Cirrus Logic Building in Austin, Texas, are among nine projects named winners of the 2013 Chairman’s Award by the Metal Construction Association for outstanding design and construction.

| Oct 1, 2013

13 structural steel buildings that dazzle

The Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., are among projects named 2013 IDEAS2 winners by the American Institute of Steel Construction.

| Sep 24, 2013

8 grand green roofs (and walls)

A dramatic interior green wall at Drexel University and a massive, 4.4-acre vegetated roof at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center in Kansas City are among the projects honored in the 2013 Green Roof and Wall Awards of Excellence. 

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021