With more new construction and renovation work planned for schools, colleges, and universities over the next few years, the education market will remain one of the hot spots in the construction scene, according to a study published by American School & University magazine (AS&U).
AS&U's Editor-in-Chief Joe Agron says it's no surprise that school performance doesn't seem dependent on the economy.
“Schools don't really track the market because the money that schools need to build typically is acquired through bond issues passed two, three, or four years ago. So the money's in the pipeline, and they usually have five- or 10-year plans on it,” he says. “The economy itself is not a major factor in a lot of the current construction activity going on.”
AS&U recently reported that more than $118 billion worth of construction projects will be completed between 2001 and 2003. In the past three years, the total was around $90 billion. Even more impressive, the numbers for overall education construction spending have more than doubled in the last decade.
The construction slated between 2001 and 2003 includes close to $84 billion for school districts and more than $34 billion for colleges. The study predicts new construction will account for the majority of the increase, with additions and modernizations not far behind in most school categories.
