APPA Library

"Changing the Facilities Backlog Conversation in Higher Education"
Author: Pete Zuraw and E. Lander Medlin
Published In: Facilities Manager
Date: July/August 2021

Deferred renewal backlog is an old subject for higher education facilities leaders, but one that, in our current reality, requires new emphasis. In April 2021, APPA released an estimate that higher education as a whole is facing urgent deferred renewal of more than $112 billion. That estimate is a brand new impetus for reviving the old backlog conversation. The Federal debate concerning the nation’s infrastructure needs—where higher education is very much in play—is helping to highlight the fact that higher education facilities infrastructure is critical if schools intend to keep educating students on physical campuses. But that’s only part of the context. All of this comes at a time when financial instability is omnipresent. Global competition for students has never been greater, a very real enrollment crisis is looming, state support for higher education has diminished, philanthropic giving is in decline, and COVID-related expenses are acting as an accelerant to these increasing financial burdens. This compounding of risks means the case for change has never been more compelling.

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