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Columbia University's plan for a new campus in Harlem is the most ambitious expansion by a local university in recent memory. The mammoth project is expected to cost $4 billion, take 30 years to complete, involve some 20 new and existing buildings and create 9,000 jobs.
Still, it's only one of a slew of building projects on the drawing boards of city colleges and universities. Under pressure to accommodate burgeoning enrollments and to compete with well-heeled schools throughout the country, the city's cramped institutions are overhauling their campuses. They are wiring dormitories and creating smart classrooms to accommodate new teaching techniques. Many are building state-of-the-art science facilities or multi-use student centers that can help position them as academic and cultural leaders. In all, at least eight schools are planning to spend $6.1 billion over the next decade.
"(Dormitory rooms) built in the 20th century don't have wiring for three hair dryers, three computers and three sound systems," says Dorothy Denberg, dean of Barnard College, which is spending more than $10 million to bring its residence halls up to date. Upgrading its dorms is just one piece of a master plan that will ultimately cost Barnard more than $65 million in capital outlays.
To underwrite such expansions, colleges are scrambling for money. Many have or will soon launch capital campaigns. Cooper Union is garnering alumni support for a $250 million campaign. New York Law School is in the silent phase of a capital campaign, and Barnard has raised $12 million toward the cost of its new buildings. Even City University of New York, which has its capital needs funded almost exclusively by the state and city, will embark this fall on its first-ever capital campaign.
"It will be very aggressive," says CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. "I've been pushing the presidents (of the CUNY institutions) to think more in...