More than half of the school districts and colleges responding to a recent survey expect to initiate construction projects in 2017, the majority of which will be major renovations or modernizations.
College Planning & Management, which conducted the survey for its annual “2017 Facilities and Construction Brief,” also found that few school districts or institutions are banking on more funds being made available for future construction projects.
The magazine bases its mostly optimistic projections partly on demographic data that project enrollment of 18 to 24 year olds by degree-granting postsecondary institutions to increase by 13% between 2013 and 2024. Enrollment of 25 to 34 year olds during that period is expected to grow by 17%, and by 10% for enrollees 35 or older.
The report notes that while the nation’s population grew last year by 0.7%, numerical gains were concentrated in 10 states, led by Texas (432,957), Florida (367,525), and California (256,077). Contrarily, eight states lost population: Connecticut, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
“We know that the population of the U.S. is growing, and along with it enrollment of our K-12 schools,” the report states. “We know there is an ongoing deferred maintenance problem and a need to invest in the improvement of existing facilities. And we know that construction and renovation of educational facilities [are] finally on the rise.”
The Census Bureau estimates that spending on education construction (which includes museums and libraries) in 2016 increased by 6.5% to $88.9 billion, the most spent since 2009 and the largest year-over-year percentage gain since 2008.
Drilling down, the report takes a closer look at past and future construction for both K-12 and colleges.
Based on responses from 90 preK-12 school districts in 33 states, 44% neither completed any construction projects in 2016, nor had any completions planned for this year. Another 47% said they wouldn’t be starting any new products this year, either.
On the positive side, 39% completed major renovations or modernizations in 2016, 34% will start a major renovation or modernization this year, and another 20% expect to complete one of these projects in 2017.
Sixteen percent of the responding school districts completed an addition last year, 16% will start an addition this year, and 18% will complete an addition in 2017.
Eighteen percent of preK-12 districts completed a new or replacement building in 2016, 27% will start one this year, and 21% will complete such a project in 2017.
Based on responses from 73 colleges or universities operating in 36 states, 27% did no construction in 2016, 32% have no construction scheduled for completion this year, and 37% have no plans to start construction in 2016.
But nearly three in five of the respondents—59%— completed a renovation or modernization in 2016, 47% plan to start such a project this year, and 53% expect to complete one in 2017.
Nearly one in five—19%—completed an addition last year, 15% will start one this year, and 28% expect to complete an addition in 2017. More than a quarter of respondents—26%—completed a new or replacement building in 2016, 27% will start one in 2017, and 36% will start one this year.
Given the strength of this construction activity, uncertainties about financing cloud future projects. Thirty-six percent of school districts thought that fewer funds would be available to them, and nearly two-fifths—39%—thought available funding would be flat. Among the college/university respondents, 43% expected to have fewer funds at their disposal, and one-third thought their funding wouldn’t change.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Back to Nature: Can wood construction create healthier, more productive learning environments?
Can the use of wood in school construction create healthier, safer, more productive learning environments? In Japan, there's an ongoing effort by government officials to construct school buildings with wood materials and finishes—everything from floors and ceilings to furniture and structural elements—in the belief that wood environments have a positive impact on students.
| Aug 11, 2010
High School in a Hurry
One of the more compelling arguments for charter schools is their theoretical ability to streamline decision making. Eliminate all those layers of bureaucratic fat that clog the arteries of most public school systems, the argument goes, and decisions can be made to flow much more smoothly, even when it comes to designing and building a major school project.
| Aug 11, 2010
Bronze Award: Garfield High School, Seattle, Wash.
Renovations to Seattle's historic Garfield High School focused mainly on restoring the 85-year-old building's faded beauty and creating a more usable and modern interior. The 243,000-sf school (whose alumni include the impresario Quincy Jones) was so functionally inadequate that officials briefly considered razing it.
| Aug 11, 2010
Managing the K-12 Portfolio
In 1995, the city of New Haven, Conn., launched a program to build five new schools and renovate and upgrade seven others. At the time, city officials could not have envisioned their program morphing into a 17-year, 44-school, $1.5 billion project to completely overhaul its entire portfolio of K-12 facilities for nearly 23,000 students.
| Aug 11, 2010
Financial Wizardry Builds a Community
At 69 square miles, Vineland is New Jersey's largest city, at least in geographic area, and it has a rich history. It was established in 1861 as a planned community (well before there were such things) by the utopian Charles Landis. It was in Vineland that Dr. Thomas Welch found a way to preserve grape juice without fermenting it, creating a wine substitute for church use (the town was dry).
| Aug 11, 2010
School Project Offers Lessons in Construction Realities
Imagine this scenario: You're planning a $32.9 million project involving 112,000 sf of new construction and renovation work, and your job site is an active 32-acre junior-K-to-12 school campus bordered by well-heeled neighbors who are extremely concerned about construction noise and traffic. Add to that the fact that within 30 days of groundbreaking, the general contractor gets canned.
| Aug 11, 2010
High Tech High International used to be a military facility
High Tech High International, reconstructed inside a 1952 Navy metal foundry training facility, incorporates the very latest in teaching technology with a centerpiece classroom known as the UN Theater, which is modeled after the UN chambers in New York. The interior space, which looks more like a hip advertising studio than a public high school, provides informal, flexible seating areas, abunda...
| Aug 11, 2010
High-Performance Modular Classrooms Hit the Market
Over a five-day stretch last December, students at the Carroll School in Lincoln, Mass., witnessed the installation of a modular classroom building like no other. The new 950-sf structure, which will serve as the school's tutoring offices for the next few years, is loaded with sustainable features like sun-tunnel skylights, doubled-insulated low-e glazing, a cool roof, light shelves, bamboo tri...
| Aug 11, 2010
Special Recognition: Pioneering Efforts Continue Trade School Legacy
Worcester, Mass., is the birthplace of vocational education, beginning with the pioneering efforts of Milton P. Higgins, who opened the Worcester Trade School in 1908. The school's original facility served this central Massachusetts community for nearly 100 years until its state-of-the-art replacement opened in 2006 as the 1,500-student Worchester Technical High School.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM school, green school: California's newest high-performance school
Nestled deep in the Napa Valley, the city of American Canyon is one of a number of new communities in Northern California that have experienced tremendous growth in the last five years. Located 42 miles northeast of San Francisco, American Canyon had a population of just over 9,000 in 2000; by 2008, that figure stood at 15,276, with 28% of the population under age 18.
