WWW.ASUMAG.COM
30TH ANNUAL OFFICIAL EDUCATION CONSTRUCTION REPORT 
GROWTH SPURT
Even as school districts and colleges
continue to cut operating budgets,
spending on construction booms.
By Joe Agron
Times remain difficult for the nation’s
school districts and colleges, as the
budget-cutting ax continues to strike
deeper into staffing, programs and
operations. However, when it comes
to construction spending, money
seems to abound.
The amount of construction put in
place in 2003 by the nation’s education
institutions reached an all-time high,
even as spending in other areas was
curtailed significantly. According to
American School & University’s 30th
annual Official Education Construction Report, school districts and colleges spent $48.1 billion on construction in 2003. The amount represents
an almost 20 percent increase in
spending compared with 2002. And
there is little sign that the robust
spending on construction will slow
anytime soon, as almost $150 billion
is projected to be spent over the next
three years.
School districts reversed a yearearlier slowdown by putting in place
$28.6 billion worth of construction, an
TABLE 1
TABLE 2
($000s)
($000s)
The National Picture
The National Picture
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
$17,446,903
$5,284,944
$5,906,205
$28,638,052
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
$56,907,908
$11,768,079
$21,137,419
$89,813,406
Education construction
completed in 2003
Education construction projected to
be completed in 2004-2006
New
Additions
Modernizations
TOTAL
New
Additions
Modernizations
TOTAL
COLLEGES
COLLEGES
$14,149,128
$891,238
$4,429,175
$19,469,541
New
Additions
Modernizations
TOTAL
$38,545,373
$6,507,711
$14,196,030
$59,249,114
New
Additions
Modernizations
TOTAL
ALL EDUCATION
$31,596,031
$6,176,182
$10,335,380
$48,107,593
New
Additions
Modernizations
TOTAL
ALL EDUCATION
$95,453,281
$18,275,790
$35,333,449
$149,062,520
New
Additions
Modernizations
TOTAL
24
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY
MAY 2004 
30TH ANNUAL OFFICIAL EDUCATION CONSTRUCTION REPORT 
Top 5 most active construction regions, 2003: By institution type
SCHOOLS
Region
($000)
5
$10,899,093
9
$4,169,436
2
$4,063,544
8
$2,408,560
3
$1,986,845
COLLEGES
Region
($000)
5
$3,687,588
9
$3,214,836
2
$2,744,156
3
$2,506,858
4
$2,243,464
ALL EDUCATION
Region
($000)
5
$14,586,681
9
$7,384,272
2
$6,807,700
3
$4,493,703
8
$4,115,186
1
2
8
9
7
5
3
4
6
Key to regions
Region 1:
Region 2:
Region 3:
Region 4:
Region 5:
Region 6:
Region 7:
Region 8:
Region 9:
CT MA ME NH RI VT
NJ NY
DC DE MD PA VA WV
AL FL GA KY MS NC SC TN
IL IN MI MN OH WI
AR LA NM OK TX
IA KS MO NE
AK CO ID MT ND OR SD UT
WA WY
AZ CA HI NV
New construction accounted
for 61 percent of the dollars
spent as districts continue to
scramble to provide space for
the influx of students.
18 percent increase over 2002. New construction accounted for
61 percent of the dollars spent as districts continue to scramble
to provide space for the influx of students.
Colleges and universities continued their aggressive spending, putting in place $19.5 billion worth of construction in
2003, a 20 percent increase over the year before. New facilities
accounted for about three out of every four construction projects completed last year.
Behind the data
The 30th annual Official Education Construction Report
contains myriad data on construction spending in 2003, as
well as projected spending through 2006.
TABLE 3
Education construction: Reaching new heights
($ Billions)
School Districts
Colleges
All Education
New Construction
Additions
Modernizations
26
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY
1994
1995
1996
1997
$10.687
$6.421
$17.108
$10.417
$6.717
$17.134
$10.964
$7.235
$18.199
$12.394
$7.530
$19.924
$8.315
$3.731
$5.062
$7.970
$4.922
$4.242
$9.642
$4.002
$4.555
$10.471
$4.249
$5.204
MAY 2004 
Record growth
WWW.ASUMAG.COM
Even as school districts faced tough financial times, school construction
rocketed to an all-time high in 2003. Results over the decade ($billions):
$26.77
$21.56
$17.09
$10.69
$10.42
$11.51
$11.66
$11.19
$10.96
The ultimate resource
$17.44
$16.04
$12.39
$28.63
$24.34
$7.89
$6.11
$5.67
$4.69
$4.92
$3.76
’94
’95
’96
 New
’97
’98
’99
’00
 Total
School
’01
’02
’03
School
A booming market
College and university construction continued to grow at a rapid pace
in 2003. Results over the decade ($billions):
$19.46
$16.20
$13.96
$14.70
$14.75
$14.14
As the bellwether repor t
documenting educ ation
construction activity for the
past 30 years, the American
School & University survey is
regularly referenced by local,
state and federal agencies,
as well as the nation’s
leading news organizations.
AS & U ac tually s t ar ted
compiling data on school
and university construction
in 1950 for the 1949 year.
After a decade or so of yearly
surveys, data began being
compiled sporadically until
industry demand prompted
AS & U to star t collec ting
data annually again. The
annual reports resurfaced
in 1975 with information
on education construction
completed in 1974, and
data has been collec ted
and published every year
since. American School
& University is the only
authorized source of this
education construction
information.
Continued...
$10.85
$8.91
$8.46
$6.42
$4.21
$3.36
’94
$7.23
$6.72
$4.72
’95
’96
 New
1998
1999
$7.53
$4.36
$7.62
$7.33
$4.20
’97
’98
School
’99
’00
 Total
’01
’02
’03
College
2000
2001
2002
2003
$17.095
$7.330
$24.425
$16.039
$13.964
$30.003
$21.567
$14.703
$36.270
$26.777
$14.732
$41.509
$24.343
$16.205
$40.548
$28.638
$19.469
$48.107
$12.097
$6.160
$6.168
$14.431
$7.043
$8.529
$19.139
$4.936
$12.195
$20.112
$5.814
$15.583
$22.505
$8.014
$10.029
$31.596
$6.176
$10.335

MAY 2004
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY 27
WWW.ASUMAG.COM
30TH ANNUAL OFFICIAL EDUCATION CONSTRUCTION REPORT 
New facilities
accounted for
about three out of
every four college
construction
projects completed
last year.
Table 1 (p. 24) outlines the amount
and type of construction spending
by school districts, colleges and all
education in 2003. Even as operating
budgets continue to suffer, spending
on construction remains strong. The
$48.1 billion put in place last year was
driven by spending on totally new
facilities, which accounted for 65
percent of all education-construction
expenditures.
School districts are responsible for
the majority of education-construction spending—59 percent—which is
comparable to previous years’ percentage amounts. Of particular note is the
focus districts placed on totally new
construction in 2003. Traditionally,
additions and modernization make
up the larger percentage of K-12 construction spending.
Table 2 (p. 24) details the amount
and type of construction projected
to be put in place through 2006, as
well as a breakout of data by type of
institution and by type of spending.
Gloomy economic conditions are no
deterrent to the need for additional
construction as the nation’s school
districts and colleges project to spend
$149.1 billion on projects over the next
three years.
About 60 percent of the construction spending through 2006 will be
by school districts ($89.8 billion).
New construction will account for 63
percent of the spending by school districts and 65 percent of the spending
by colleges over this time.
Table 3 (p. 26-27) looks back at the
28
TABLE 4
Education construction, 2003: By type of institution
($000)
Region
Schools
Colleges
All Education
1
$1,606,276
$409,375
$2,015,651
2
$4,063,544
$2,744,156
$6,807,700
3
$1,986,845
$2,506,858
$4,493,703
4
$1,745,142
$2,243,464
$3,988,606
5
$10,899,093
$3,687,588
$14,586,681
6
$682,607
$1,983,775
$2,666,382
7
$1,076,549
$972,863
$2,049,412
8
$2,408,560
$1,706,626
$4,115,186
9
$4,169,436
$3,214,836
$7,384,272
$28,638,052
$19,469,541
$48,107,593
Nat’l
TABLE 5
School construction, 2003: By type of construction
($000)
Total dollars spent
Region
New Bldgs
Adds/Mods
% of dollars spent
New
Bldgs
Adds/
Mods
1
$669,083
$937,193
41.7%
58.3%
2
$2,329,632
$1,733,912
57.3%
42.7%
3
$1,105,071
$881,774
55.6%
44.4%
4
$744,445
$1,000,697
42.7%
57.3%
5
$7,392,800
$3,506,293
67.8%
32.2%
6
$453,364
$229,243
66.4%
33.6%
7
$390,643
$685,906
36.3%
63.7%
8
$1,951,933
$456,627
81.0%
19.0%
9
Nat’l
$2,409,932
$1,759,504
57.8%
42.2%
$17,446,903
$11,191,149
60.9%
39.1%
TABLE 6
College construction, 2003: By type of construction
($000)
Total dollars spent
Region
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY
New Bldgs
Adds/Mods
% of dollars spent
New
Bldgs
Adds/
Mods
1
$269,029
$140,346
65.7%
34.3%
2
$1,683,262
$1,060,894
61.3%
38.7%
3
$1,905,993
$600,865
76.0%
24.0%
4
$1,808,915
$434,549
80.6%
19.4%
5
$2,962,084
$725,504
80.3%
19.7%
6
$1,515,498
$468,277
76.4%
23.6%
7
$603,778
$369,085
62.1%
37.9%
8
$906,330
$800,296
53.1%
46.9%
9
$2,494,239
$720,597
77.6%
22.4%
Nat’l
$14,149,128
$5,320,413
72.7%
27.3%
MAY 2004 
WWW.ASUMAG.COM
30TH ANNUAL OFFICIAL EDUCATION CONSTRUCTION REPORT 
Slightly more
than half of the
construction
spending will
take place in just
three regions.
past 10 years of education construction by amount, category and type of
institution.
Regional breakouts
TABLE 7
Education construction projected to be completed,
2004-2006
($000)
The Regional Picture
Region
Schools
Colleges
Total
1
$8,861,523
$3,356,869
$12,218,392
2
$9,575,951
$7,611,189
$17,187,140
3
$4,831,364
$7,763,144
$12,594,508
4
$9,265,659
$5,685,229
$14,950,888
5
$17,474,378
$7,632,358
$25,106,736
6
$7,401,730
$5,598,237
$12,999,967
7
$2,659,890
$ 778,519
$3,438,409
8
$12,867,200
$2,291,615
$15,158,815
9
$16,875,711
$18,531,954
$35,407,665
$89,813,406
$59,249,114
$149,062,520
Nat’l
Table 4 (p. 28) details regional
spending on construction by type of inTo arrive at results for the 30th annual Official Education Construction
stitution. Region 5 (see Key to Regions
Report, a detailed questionnaire was mailed in October 2003 to chief
on p. 26) put in place the most school
business officials at the nation’s school districts and colleges. Basically,
and college construction in 2003 ($14.6
two questions were asked:
billion), followed by Region 9 ($7.4
•Did you complete any construction during the past year?
billion) and Region 2 ($6.8 billion).
•Will you complete any construction in the next three years?
Aggressive construction programs in
Administrators answering “yes” to either question were then asked to
all of these regions—some as a result
provide a variety of details on the amount being spent, the type of construcof court order—resulted in significant
tion being done (new, addition or modernization), and the expected complespending that is expected to continue
tion date. All respondents involved with new and retrofit construction were
at least for the next few years.
asked to provide additional information on each project. Further follow-up
calls were made to clarify some data. Responses were separated by instituTable 5 (p. 28) focuses on the type
tion type, region of the country and institution size, and projected across the
of school construction completed in
education
universe.
2003 by region and type of spending
(new buildings, additions and modernization). New school
facilities accounted for
61 percent of the expenditures, with six of the
Air conditioning continues to be specified in the majority of new space at both schools
nine regions spending
and universities; carpeting remains less prominent. The percentage of space air
more than half of their
conditioned and carpeted in new education facilities projects completed in 2003:
dollars on totally new
facilities.
Table 6 (p. 28) looks
at the type of college
construction completed
in 2003 by region and
type of spending. New
college facilities made
up 73 percent of projects, with every region
spending more than
half of its dollars on
Methodology
Incidence of air conditioning and carpeting
30
MAY 2004 
WWW.ASUMAG.COM
30TH ANNUAL OFFICIAL EDUCATION CONSTRUCTION REPORT 
TABLE 8
The amount of
construction
put in place
in 2003 by the
nation’s education
institutions reached
an all-time high,
even as spending
in other areas
was significantly
curtailed.
How the school construction dollars are projected to be
split, 2004-2006
Total School Construction ($000)
Region
new buildings.
Table 7 (p. 30) includes projected
spending by region on construction
through 2006 by school districts,
colleges and universities, and all
education. The nation’s education
institutions expect to complete $149.1
billion worth of construction over the
next three years.
Slightly more than half of the
construction spending will take place
in just three regions. Region 9 will account for the bulk of the construction
spending ($35.4 billion), followed by
Region 5 ($25.1 billion) and Region 2
(17.2 billion). These regions also were
the most active construction regions
in 2003.
For school districts, the most active
Adds/Mods
1
$3,756,865
$5,104,658
2
$4,129,447
3
$1,556,182
4
5
6
$2,724,961
42.4%
57.6%
$5,446,504
43.1%
56.9%
$3,275,182
32.2%
67.8%
$6,191,796
$3,073,863
66.8%
33.2%
$14,753,369
$2,721,010
84.4%
15.6%
$4,676,769
36.8%
63.2%
$795,565
$1,864,326
29.9%
70.1%
8
$10,641,566
$2,225,633
82.7%
17.3%
9
$12,358,157
$4,517,553
73.2%
26.8%
Nat’l
$56,907,908
$32,905,498
63.4%
36.6%
TABLE 9
How the college construction dollars are projected to be
split, 2004-2006
Total College Construction ($000)
Region
New
Adds/Mods
1
$1,979,378
$1,377,491
2
$4,594,706
3
$5,015,238
59.0%
41.0%
$3,016,483
60.4%
39.6%
$2,747,906
64.6%
35.4%
$3,450,137
$2,235,092
60.7%
39.3%
5
$4,097,829
$3,534,530
53.7%
46.3%
6
$4,118,908
$1,479,329
73.6%
26.4%
7
$531,321
$247,198
68.2%
31.8%
8
$1,624,256
$667,359
70.9%
29.1%
9
$13,133,600
$5,398,353
70.9%
29.1%
Nat’l
$38,545,373
$20,703,741
65.1%
34.9%
What colleges are building
Of those projects identified, classroom facilities were
the type of new construction most often completed by
colleges and universities in 2003, followed by multi-use
and residential facilities.
Classroom 20%
Elementary 36%
Other 29%
Library 3%
Vocational 2%
32
% Adds/
Mods
% New
4
Elementary schools continued to be the type of facility
most often constructed by K-12 institutions in 2003.
Breakouts by building type:
High 17%
% Adds/
Mods
% New
7
What schools are building
Other 34%
New
Middle 11%
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY
Student Union
4%
Athletic 8%
Science 4%
Multi-use 16%
Residential 16%
MAY 2004 
WWW.ASUMAG.COM
30TH ANNUAL OFFICIAL EDUCATION CONSTRUCTION REPORT 
How the dollars are divided
The following identifies (by percentage) how
elementary, middle and high schools, as well
as all K-12 schools, divide the cost of a new
school:
Furnishings/
Equipment 5%
Fees/Other 7%
Site
Development
9%
Site Purchase
4%
Construction 75%
ELEMENTARY
TABLE 10
How much does a new school cost?
(MEDIAN)
Elementary
Cost/
Square
Foot
Middle
High*
All
$114
$194
$118
$120
Cost/
Student
$13,853
$22,933
$20,896
$19,168
Square
Feet/
Student
133
141
178
150
Number of
Pupils
500
700
1,450
680
Size (sq.
ft.)
65,000
110,000
244,548
80,018
Total Cost
($000)
$6,650
$18,450
$25,900
$9,000
*Includes supplemental data from AS&U ’s 2003 Architectural Portfolio.
Furnishings/
Equipment 9%
Fees/Other 6%
TABLE 11
Retrofits performed
Site
Development
10%
Site Purchase
4%
When schools and universities renovated facilities in 2003, these
were the types of retrofits most often performed (by percentage
of projects):
Construction 71%
MIDDLE
Furnishings/
Equipment 5%
Fees/Other 5%
Site
Development
10%
Site Purchase
2%
Construction 78%
HIGH
Furnishings/
Equipment 6%
Fees/Other 8%
Site
Development
8%
Site Purchase
9%
Construction 69%
NATIONAL
34
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY
Schools
Colleges
ADA Compliance
39%
51%
Carpeting
33%
57%
Electric
49%
73%
Flooring
41%
67%
HVAC
52%
63%
Indoor Air Quality
15%
26%
Lighting
47%
69%
Painting/Interior Trim
41%
73%
Plumbing
35%
62%
Roofing
30%
32%
Security/Life Safety
24%
41%
Technology Infrastructure
32%
58%
Windows/Doors
41%
50%
construction region will be Region 5 ($17.5 billion), followed
closely by Region 9 ($16.9 billion) and Region 8 ($12.9 billion).
Region 9 will be the most active construction region through
2006 on the college front, spending $18.5 billion over this time.
Regions 3, 5 and 2 follow, with each expecting to spend in the
$7.5-billion range.
Table 8 (p. 32) details how the school construction dollars
through 2006 will be split. Only four regions will be spending
more than half of their construction dollars on new facilities. The
majority will be allocating a larger percentage of their spending
to additions and modernization. But when broken out nationally,
MAY 2004 
WWW.ASUMAG.COM
30TH ANNUAL OFFICIAL EDUCATION CONSTRUCTION REPORT 
A decade of activity
Enrollment and construction—SCHOOLS
K-12 construction has made gains over the past few years to close the gap
with a rising student population. Results since 1990:
The amount of total education construction put
in place in 2003 reached an all-time high. Total
spending over the decade ($billions):
Enrollment and construction—COLLEGES
College construction is making great strides in keeping pace with rapid
enrollment growth. Results since 1990:
63 percent of the total dollars school
districts project to spend on construction over the next three years will go
toward new facilities. This primarily
is due to the most active regions (5, 8
and 9) spending more of their money
on new facilities.
Table 9 (p. 32) focuses on how
higher-education construction dollars
will be split over the next three years.
Every region will spend more than
half of its dollars on new construction,
with 65 percent of the total dollars put
toward new buildings.
In the details
Table 10 (p. 34) details a variety
of cost and size data for the national
median new elementary, middle and
high school, as well as all schools.
36
Of particular note, middle schools
are the most expensive to build per
square foot ($194) and per student
($22,933).
Table 11 (p. 34) outlines the types
of retrofits performed in 2003 by type
of institution. Energy-related retrofits continue to be the most often
AMERICAN SCHOOL & UNIVERSITY
performed retrofit at both schools
and colleges. 
Agron, editor-in-chief, can be reached at
jagron@primediabusiness.com.
MAY 2004 