Chapter 4: Financing Capital Facilities in Higher Education

Capital funding for higher education is a large, complex, and confusing activity. Although the capital resources of the nation’s campuses are critically important and represent a huge investment by the states’ citizens, the magnitude of these resources has largely been ignored by legislators and other state policymakers. Prospective students, faculty, and staff base a major part of their decisions to become part of a campus on the quality and appearance of the campus facilities. In 1996, it was estimated that a backlog of $26 billion of accumulated deferred maintenance needs existed on U.S. campuses. Five years later, the backlog appears to have gotten larger, and evidence has mounted that the nation’s college and university campuses are in deteriorating condition.