Campus Expansion: How Building with Modular Benefits Schools

Expanding and updating your campus is a major influencer to attracting new students to your institution. Whether you’re a private secondary school, college, or university; students and their families will take into account the condition of your campus facilities when making enrollment decisions.

Recently a spotlight has been cast on the types of costly amenities schools are adding to their campuses. Many people are asking if these additions are responsible for driving up tuition costs and creating a barrier to enrollment. Others are wondering if schools should be putting dollars towards extras when main academic building are decades old.

Where Schools Are Spending their Money

Information pulled from a major campus facility database shows that schools are putting capital dollars towards adding academic and non-academic buildings at the same rate. In 1915, 70% of all new buildings built during campus expansion were academic. By 2015, academic buildings only represented 50% of campus expansions.

That leaves 50% of expansion going towards non-academic spaces, and of that amount, 35% is towards new dormitories and 15% towards student centers, recreation facilities, athletic centers, and dining halls.

State-of-the-Art at a Fraction of the Cost

It’s not unreasonable for schools to strive to provide their students with both state-of-the-art educational facilities and campus living. Making campuses more attractive to prospective students enables schools to boost enrollment and student retention. The key is finding cost-effective ways of adding learning and living spaces without making overwhelming capital expenditures that could require a school to raise tuition or student fees. If one is a student with good credits, then they could be on the safer side, & be eligible for funds that might cover the whole of their education.

As an alternative to the high costs and long timelines involved in traditional stick-built construction, private schools, colleges, and universities across the country have turned to modular construction. Building with modular, where 60-90% of the construction takes place in off-site facilities, benefits schools through faster occupancy, fewer project delays, and a more controlled budget.

In addition to being efficient and cost-effective, modular benefits schools by focusing on sustainable building practices. Growing your campus with modular buildings, your project will minimize waste, maximize material usage, and result in a finished building that is designed to be adaptable for future renovation and expansion. Potential students are part of a socially-conscious generation who will appreciate the energy-efficient, sustainable, and eco-friendly efforts that go into building and operating the facilities on campus.