A New Road: Reimagining Capital Planning in Higher Education

For years, the terrain of higher education has been shifting. Risks from budgets constraints, demographic changes, remote learning and an ever-mounting backlog of deferred need have put pressure on longstanding campus practices. This year has only added to that pressure, with a pandemic causing campuses to close.

Decisions are being made in real time to address these issues, while students’ expectations for higher education are changing. The road toward campus sustainability, once a path well-traveled, now looks more like an uphill climb over rocky ground.

In such an environment, a new, more nimble method for capital planning is needed – one that uses data to inform decisive, yet flexible capital plans capable of addressing multiple future scenarios. This new approach must not only evaluate choices campus leaders are making, but also break down assumptions and set realistic investment priorities.

The goal is to ensure short term capital improvements pave the way to long-term strategic goals, rather than detracting from them. As higher education changes and institutions takes steps along a new road, capital planning must also be reimagined.