In a new national study conducted by the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and Buro Happold’s higher education consulting group, brightspot, a series of notable findings reveal the major impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on how universities and colleges are planning for new facilities. 

Called the Campus Facilities Inventory (CFI), the survey is used to provide facilities benchmarking data to colleges and universities in order to better inform their planning efforts. It asks institutions to provide space data as categorized by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Facilities Inventory and Classification Manual (FICM). It was last undertaken in 2007. In the 2021 edition, a group survey of 88 higher-education institutions across the U.S. was conducted, gathering data on their buildings, as well as recent and planned changes to their facilities. The research also details changes over the last year and plans for the next three years. 

As stated on the SCUP’s website, “The 2021 CFI will help college and university leaders understand not only what they have now and how it compares but also how things might change in the future.” 

The CFI report is broken down into three sections: current space use data, anticipated changes to space, and qualitative space changes. Schools are also grouped based on type, location, and size. 

To start, the report shows that student enrollment is quickly outpacing U.S. universities’ ability to accommodate students in academic and residential facilities. Over half of school leaders also see the need for more flexible staff and faculty offices due to the pandemic. 48% of the schools are expanding multicultural student spaces over the next year to make their campuses more inclusive and equitable. In addition, as hybrid and online learning becomes more commonplace, growth in campus facilities is unlikely to keep up.

Furthermore, about six out of ten schools will create or update campus master plans in the coming year. Public schools, with larger real estate portfolios than private schools, are more likely to build new facilities over the next three years. However, private schools currently provide more space per in-person student than public schools. About 62% of respondents will build out more flexible or unassigned staff workspaces, 54% will do so for academic work facilities. 

The CFI collected data on a diverse array of institutions across the country. Responses to the survey were collected from January through April in order to get “an authoritative snapshot of both pre-pandemic campuses and pandemic-influence planning,” said brightspot associate director Allan Donnelly. 

“The SCUP survey gave respondents an opportunity to provide qualitative feedback on how the pandemic has affected their institution’s approach to campus and facility planning,” added Donnelly.