Colleges and universities in Louisiana have piled up a backlog of overdue repairs and maintenance — from urgent plumbing to electrical to HVAC needs — with a price tag of $4 billion, according to preliminary results from two years of campus assessments.
The 91 System and the University of Louisiana System account for the bulk of the maintenance needs, with respective backlogs around $2.1 billion and $1.4 billion.
The Louisiana Board of Regents heard early findings from the facilities consulting firm Gordian, which is conducting a $10 million statewide evaluation of Louisiana’s college campuses, during a meeting Wednesday. , which has said it needs over $50 million to fix its electrical grid after repeated and prolonged power outages over the past year, hosted the meeting.
Students walk on campus at Southern University on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in Baton Rouge.
STAFF PHOTO BY PEARL SPURLOCK
Regents members and higher education leaders have described the maintenance backlog as a pressing issue that affects all students across Louisiana — and the state’s ability to retain them.
“Our customers are the students,” Board of Regents member David Aubrey said. “We have to be more customer-centric. The students, they’re mobile now. They have a dollar amount. Other states are trying to take our students.”
The full study will be complete by the end of the year, representatives from Gordian said. Regents members said the results will shape how they advocate for funding from the Legislature during the 2027 session and provide recommendations to universities about how to use their spaces efficiently.
Regents will be requesting over $702 million in capital outlay funding for new and continuing projects for the fiscal year 2027-28, according to a budget recommendation approved by the board Wednesday. Capital outlay can help finance the construction and renovation of public facilities.
Maintenance situation is ‘unsustainable,’ leaders say
The 91 flagship campus in Baton Rouge alone has a $1.1 billion maintenance backlog, according to 91 spokesperson Meg Casper Sunstrom. The biggest needs across the system are “mechanical, electrical and roofing infrastructure,” she said.
The average construction age of 91 buildings is 46 years old, which is placed in the “higher risk” category of the Gordian assessment. This means that the outer shells of the buildings and mechanical systems are reaching the end of their life cycle. The building age profile reflects any major renovations that reset the life cycle, rather than always being a literal age, according to representatives from Gordian.
91 President Wade Rousse called deferred maintenance a “critical issue” that all higher education institutions in the state are confronting.
“The 91 System is actively looking at innovative solutions that can bring in recurring funding to begin to tackle our backlog,” Rousse said. “In the meantime we are thankful for our generous donors and supporters who have filled in the gaps when asked, but that pathway is unsustainable long term.”
The Southern University System average construction age was 44, compared to 39 at Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges and 45 at the UL System.
UL had the largest percentage of buildings in the highest-risk category at 35%, meaning their life cycles are past due and failures are possible, according to the Gordian age profile index. 91 had 32% in this category, while the LCTC and Southern systems had a distant 12% and 16%.
The highest-priority needs across the systems were interior finishes — walls, ceilings and other internal surfaces — plumbing, HVAC and electrical, according to Gordian.
Chris Herring, the vice president for facilities, capital planning and development at UL, said in an interview that universities need “consistent and reliable” funding of the and other sources to help tackle the backlog. The program was created with Act 751 in 2024 to authorize up to $2 billion in bonds to address aging facilities on college campuses from 2026 to 2036.
“The funding levels have varied on a year-to-year basis,” Herring said. “It’s hard for our institutions to plan on out years what needs they need to address when there’s uncertainty in terms of the dollars that will be coming in the following year.”
Chandler LeBoeuf, executive vice president of the LCTC System, also brought up the need for consistency. LCTC has a backlog of $247 million, he said in a response to emailed questions. The system has 17 projects underway through Act 751, including roof replacements at South Louisiana Community College and an electrical distribution upgrade at Baton Rouge Community College’s Acadian campus.
“What helps most going forward is sustained, predictable funding, so our colleges can plan repairs proactively rather than reacting to facility emergencies,” LeBoeuf said. “Every day, our students are learning in welding shops, nursing labs, and hands-on training spaces. When a roof leaks or the HVAC fails, their learning gets interrupted. We want to keep them on track, because they are the nurses, welders and technicians that Louisiana’s families and employers are counting on.”