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The Society for College and University Planning’s Campus Facilities Inventory (CFI) is a peer-benchmarking resource for campus space and facilities, not a forecast of projects that are certain to happen. Its 2022 findings, as reported by Building Design + Construction, pointed toward adapting existing buildings, planning for research and maker spaces, and reconsidering how campuses use athletic, outdoor, and student living areas. Those are historical survey responses—not a description of construction activity today. SCUP later published a 2023 CFI report and identifies that dataset as the program’s final benchmark year.
What is the Campus Facilities Inventory?
The Campus Facilities Inventory is a survey and benchmarking resource intended to help colleges and universities compare their facilities and space use with those of peer institutions. SCUP, a professional association for college and university planners, relaunched it in 2021 in partnership with brightspot strategy, a Buro Happold company. The original inventory had been collected and published from 2003 through 2007.
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The revived inventory updated its room-use taxonomy, expanding it from 15 categories to 19. The classification was based on the National Center for Education Statistics’ Postsecondary Education Facilities Inventory and Classification Manual. A shared taxonomy makes it more practical to compare like kinds of space across institutions, although the numbers still need to be read in context: an institution’s type, location, and student headcount can all affect what a useful comparison looks like.
SCUP describes the later 2023 report as combining space-use data with recent and planned facility changes. It offers aggregate reporting and comparisons by institution type, location, and student headcount. SCUP says the program concluded after the 2023 collection, making that dataset the final benchmark year. The 2023 report is available as a paid PDF on SCUP’s report page; the publicly available page does not disclose its detailed numerical findings.
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What did the 2022 CFI say about campus space per student?
The 2022 quantitative results showed a marked difference between two groups of small four-year institutions: small private colleges averaged 58.7 net aggregate square feet of instructional space per in-person student, compared with 35.2 square feet at small public colleges. These figures are reported by Building Design + Construction from the 2022 CFI; they should not be treated as a universal space standard.
| Institution group in the 2022 report | Average instructional space per in-person student |
|---|---|
| Small private four-year institutions | 58.7 net aggregate square feet |
| Small public four-year institutions | 35.2 net aggregate square feet |
The comparison is useful because it illustrates why a single “square feet per student” figure can mislead. The reported groups differ by institutional type, and the measure concerns instructional space per in-person student—not all campus buildings divided by total enrollment. It does not establish that either group has too much or too little space, nor does it say what an individual campus should build. A planner applying the benchmark would need to preserve the comparison group and consider location and headcount as well.
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The report’s quantitative section drew responses from 104 U.S. institutions and one Canadian institution. Its qualitative section included 31 institutions, most of them four-year public schools. These samples describe participating institutions; they should not be read as a census of all North American campuses. The distinction also matters when reading broad statements about what “colleges” plan to do: the space-use averages and the qualitative plans came from different response sets.
Were colleges more likely to adapt buildings or construct new ones?
In the 2022 qualitative responses, institutions were more likely to report updating or adapting existing facilities than building new ones. They were also more likely to change administrative offices than academic offices. This points to a planning emphasis on making existing assets serve changing needs, but it does not mean that new construction had stopped or that every respondent chose renovation.
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For campus owners and project teams, the distinction is important. “Adaptation” can involve changing how a facility functions, while new construction adds a building or space. The survey finding supports the conclusion that respondents more often anticipated work on existing facilities; it does not specify the cost, scope, condition, or delivery method of those projects. Nor does it establish that renovation is always less expensive or faster than replacement. Those decisions require building-specific assessments and project information that the survey summary does not provide.
Adaptive reuse appeared as a specific planning strategy: 84 percent of 2022 respondents said it was planned, compared with 76 percent in 2021. That is an increase in the share reporting plans, not a count of completed conversions or a measure of how much space was reused. It is evidence of stated intent in those survey years, not proof of subsequent construction outcomes.
Decommissioning was reported more frequently than in 2021, with workspaces and research laboratories the most common space types identified. Respondents expected the trend to continue over the following three years. This is another reason not to interpret the inventory simply as a list of facilities to add: campus planning also involved considering which spaces might be taken out of service. The summary does not provide quantities, specific campuses, or evidence of whether those expectations were later realized.
Which campus facilities did respondents expect to prioritize?
The 2022 responses suggested several priorities, including classrooms, athletic and recreation facilities, computational research laboratories, fabrication and maker spaces, outdoor areas, and student wellness. These priorities are best understood as reported plans and expectations from that survey, not as a current ranking of construction demand.
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- Classrooms: Athletic and recreation facilities rose to the second most frequently planned facility update, behind classrooms. The summary does not specify classroom designs or the scale of planned work.
- Research and making: More than half of respondents said they planned to increase computational research laboratory and fabrication/maker-space facilities. This finding concerns stated plans to increase those facilities; it does not give a square-footage target or confirm completed projects.
- Outdoor space: Respondents also intended greater use of outdoor spaces in the following year. The summary does not identify particular uses, design features, or project budgets.
- Athletics and recreation: These facilities were the second most frequently planned update after classrooms, indicating that they featured prominently in the qualitative responses.
- Student wellness: More than two-fifths of respondents planned to incorporate wellness into student living facilities. At the same time, centralized campus health and wellness facilities appeared less attractive to respondents. This contrast suggests different approaches were being considered, but the summary does not explain why institutions favored one setting over another.
These categories can overlap in a real facilities plan. For example, an institution may consider student experience, research needs, and the condition of existing buildings together. The CFI summary establishes the reported themes, not a prescribed sequence for projects or a one-size-fits-all campus program. It also does not provide detailed project specifications, budgets, or completion dates from which to infer a construction pipeline.
What did the survey say about where faculty and staff would work?
Respondents expected 80 percent of faculty and staff to work either fully on campus or on campus three to four days per week. This was an expectation reported in the 2022 CFI, not a later measurement of actual attendance or a current workforce forecast.
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How should planners use the CFI findings?
Use the 2022 findings as a historical peer benchmark and a prompt for questions, not as a forecast or a mandate. The survey can help frame discussions about existing space, changing room uses, and stated institutional priorities, while local data should determine whether a particular campus needs a renovation, a new facility, or a different operating plan.
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- Start with the right comparison group. Keep institution type, location, and in-person student headcount in view. The average for small private four-year institutions is not automatically an appropriate target for a large public or differently situated campus.
- Separate space-use data from plans. The reported square-footage figures describe space per in-person student. Statements about adaptation, decommissioning, or planned facilities describe qualitative intentions. Do not combine them as if they measure the same thing.
- Distinguish planned work from completed work. The 84 percent adaptive-reuse figure records plans reported in 2022, not completed projects. Likewise, respondents’ three-year expectations for decommissioning do not confirm what later happened.
- Test the benchmark against campus conditions. The summary does not provide building condition, utilization, cost, or project-level data. Those are necessary inputs for deciding whether to renovate, repurpose, replace, or add space at a specific institution.
- Use the later report for later comparisons. SCUP identifies the 2023 report as the final CFI benchmark year. Its report page confirms the scope and availability of the PDF, but detailed 2023 results cannot be inferred from that page or from the 2022 summary.
SCUP and brightspot strategy framed the need for institutional planning this way: “Higher education institutions need to anticipate the trends and movements that will impact them, and develop an integrated planning culture that builds relationships, aligns the institution, and prepares them to change and adapt,” said Wutka and Donnelly, jointly attributed in the Building Design + Construction article. Sadie Wutka also said the pandemic “accelerated changes that were already impacting higher education ‘and launched us into an even more intensely volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment.’” Both statements belong to the article’s account of the 2022 CFI context, rather than being fresh findings from the later report.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Are these still the latest college planning trends?
No—the 2022 results are not the newest benchmark identified by SCUP. SCUP subsequently published a 2023 CFI report and says that 2023 was the final benchmark year. That means the 2022 figures should not be presented as the latest available CFI data, and the end of the program means no later CFI benchmark year is identified in the supplied sources.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does “net aggregate square feet” mean in a campus space comparison?
The 2022 summary reports this measure but does not define its calculation in detail. For a formal comparison, consult the CFI report’s methodology and use the same space categories and denominator across institutions.
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Does the CFI include community colleges or only four-year schools?
The 2022 qualitative respondents were mostly four-year public institutions, while the quantitative responses included 104 U.S. institutions and one Canadian institution. The available summary does not provide a complete breakdown of all participating institution types.
Can the 2022 CFI findings be used to justify a specific campus construction budget?
Not by themselves. The summarized findings do not include project costs, building conditions, or campus-specific utilization data, so a budget case needs local evidence in addition to peer benchmarks.
Where can I find the detailed 2023 CFI numbers?
SCUP’s 2023 report page lists the report as a paid PDF and identifies it as the final benchmark year. The public page provides scope information but not the detailed tables.
