Louisiana’s public colleges face $4B deferred maintenance backlog

Dive Brief:

• Louisiana public colleges and universities face a maintenance backlog of over $4 billion, according to a presentation to the state’s board of regents last week from consultants with building intelligence firm Gordian. 
•  Eliminating that backlog and addressing upcoming maintenance needs would take annual capital spending of $777 million over the next decade, according to the presentation.
• The board voted last week to request $702.1 million for over 70 capital projects in the fiscal 2028 year. The regents also plan to request $1.4 billion in general fund money from the state for the institutions, as well as an additional $26.9 million in one-time funds.    

Dive Insight:

The regents are seeking the most money for the Louisiana State University system, for which regents are requesting $279.8 million for 23 ongoing projects and one new one in fiscal 2028. 

Across the state’s four systems and 33 public institutions, 30% of facilities were between 25 and 50 years old. Another 30% were over 50 years old, putting them at higher risk of maintenance issues or even failures, according to an analysis prepared by Gordian for Louisiana’s board of regents.

The state’s public colleges aren’t alone in their deferred maintenance backlog. Nationwide, colleges’ deferred capital projects reached $156 per gross square foot in 2025. That represents an 8% increase from the prior year and a near doubling from 2007 levels, found Gordian’s latest annual report on the sector. 

Spending on existing buildings in 2025 was less than three-fourths of what was needed to prevent the backlog from growing even more. The data “tells a story of structural underinvestment colliding with an accelerating pace of institutional change,” Gordian said when issuing the report. 

Similarly, in 2024, Moody’s Ratings tallied up a nearly $1 trillion “hidden liability” in physical capital needs over the next decade among the roughly 500 institutions it rates. 

Among other public institutions facing such a backlog, Houston City College counted 450 needed repairs and upgrades at a cost of just under $80 million in additional spending, according to a report for the institution’s board. 

By the time a maintenance issue becomes a must-fix, HCC leaders said in their report, repairs tend to be more expensive and “can negatively impact instruction, student experience, and building asset value.”