Louisiana’s public colleges and universities are facing an estimated $4 billion deferred maintenance backlog, according to a statewide facilities assessment that’s providing officials with a new basis for prioritizing capital investments across four higher education systems.

The Louisiana Board of Regents recently commissioned a review of the state’s public postsecondary facilities that’s part of a $10 million dollar, three-part statewide assessment that was approved by the Louisiana Legislature in 2024. Gordian, working with Regents and system staff, visited every two- and four-year public college and university campus in the state to evaluate building conditions and identify infrastructure deficiencies. The results of those efforts will be used to help prioritize deferred maintenance, capital outlay requests, demolition, and other facilities investments. Two additional assessments intended to examine space utilization and operational and energy inefficiencies are expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Aging buildings increase capital needs

The assessment revealed that the age of buildings across the state is a significant factor that needs to be taken into consideration and addressed by the colleges and universities identified the report. The average construction age of buildings in both the Louisiana State University System and University of Louisiana System is 64 years, according to the Board of Regents. Likewise, Southern University System buildings average 61 years, while facilities in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System average 53 years, which places them into one of four risk categories based on age as identified by Gordian.

The assessment determined that buildings less than 10 years old generally carry relatively little renewal risk, while those between 10 and 25 years typically begin requiring shorter-life-cycle replacements and space renewal. Buildings between 25 and 50 years old, on the other hand, enter a higher-risk period as major envelope and mechanical systems reach the end of their expected service lives. Facilities identified to be more than 50 years old were categorized at the highest risk because major components may already be beyond their expected life cycles and core modernization work may have been delayed.

Among the state’s college and university systems, Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges has the largest percentage of buildings in the lowest-risk category, at just 22%. Meanwhile, the University of Louisiana System has the largest share in the highest-risk group, with 35% of its buildings listed as more than 50 years old.

The age profile of these facilities is significant because many of the most expensive building systems—HVAC equipment, electrical infrastructure, plumbing, roofs, envelopes, and life-safety systems—can require major renewal at roughly the same point in a facility’s lifecycle.

AS&U recently reported a similar problem at the University of Houston, where deferred and planned maintenance needs had reached more than $700 million. University officials there attributed some of the pressure to waves of construction that resulted in multiple buildings reaching major renewal ages at roughly the same time.

Assessment will influence capital priorities

Louisiana officials say they intend to use the new building condition data as more than an inventory of repairs and will use the findings to inform campus master plans as well as future Board of Regents capital outlay and deferred maintenance requests. Louisiana estimates that about 70% of state-owned buildings are on public postsecondary campuses, making higher education a major part of the state’s overall facilities portfolio.

At its Oct. 21 meeting, the Board approved its fiscal 2027-28 capital outlay recommendation, encompassing 71 continuing projects and two new project requests. Gordian presented the statewide assessment during the meeting to help inform those decisions, according to an announcement by the board.

Commissioner of Higher Education Dr. Kim Hunter Reed said in a statement:

“This comprehensive independent assessment of our facilities comes at a critical time, as the Board of Regents prepares to submit capital outlay recommendations to the Administration and the legislature. We will certainly use the knowledge gained to sharpen our priority recommendations regarding infrastructure, demolition, and overall facility management. We’re grateful that the legislature has funded this tool and are certain that they too will use it.”