State bonds aid PSU construction projects

Recently approved state bonds—$64 million worth—will aid PSU in expanding the School of Business Administration and reshaping the Peter W. Stott Center. The funding comes as part of a larger, $743.5 million funding effort across the state to improve Oregon’s universities and community colleges.

Of the $64 million, $40 million has been allotted to the SBA’s expansion and remodeling, while the remaining $24 million will go toward turning the Stott Center “into a light-filled, mixed use building with new academic and athletic spaces,” according to a press release. Work on the Stott Center is slated to begin in fall 2014; the groundbreaking for SBA’s expansion is scheduled for January 2015.

“This is good news for our students, our partners and our community,” PSU President Wim Wiewel said in the July 8 release, adding that “we are grateful to the Legislature and private donors for making [the projects] possible.”

In addition to the money provided by the state, PSU is also working to raise around $20 million in philanthropic donations for each project.

The latest injection of funds means that, according to the release, the SBA is presently at 88 percent ($52.8 million) of its $60 million goal for the expansion. The Stott Center project is also fast approaching its funding goal of $44 million.

The projects, according to the release, “will add much-needed space to help meet the state’s goal for 40 percent of its residents to earn a bachelor’s degree” by 2025.

The state’s goal stems from the broader “40-40-20 goal” approved by the Oregon Legislature in January 2011. The plan, which has become the driving force behind many of the state’s higher education decisions, calls for at least 40 percent of Oregonians to have a bachelor’s degree, 40 percent to have an associate’s degree and the remaining 20 percent to have at least a high school diploma by 2025.