12

September 2026

By Scott Bates

The most successful campus projects do not begin with a building. They begin with a campus vision.

For private and independent schools, facilities play an important role in supporting the institution’ s mission, educational priorities, enrollment goals, and overall campus experience. But determining how and when to invest in those facilities can be complex. A thoughtful campus master plan provides a roadmap for making those decisions, not simply for the next construction project, but for the next five, 10, or even 20 years.

The financial implications are significant. According to the National Business Officers Association( NBOA), an independent school’ s physical assets are often worth more than its fiscal assets,

and, on average, 10 % to 15 % of a school’ s annual operating budget supports its physical plant. Earlier NBOA research involving 175 independent schools also found that more than 91 % operated multiple buildings and, among those schools, the oldest building was nearly 85 years old on average.

With campuses often comprising facilities built across generations, understanding existing conditions and prioritizing capital investments can be just as important as planning the next new building.

Bringing Constructability into the Conversation

One of the greatest opportunities during master planning is incorporating construction expertise, in collaboration with the master planning team, before individual projects are fully defined. A construction manager can provide realtime information about cost, existing conditions, logistics, schedules, and market factors that can help turn a longterm vision into an achievable plan.

Realistic budgeting is an important place to start. Early order-of-magnitude estimates, cost modeling, benchmarking,

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MA SDO WBE / MBE CERTIFIED FEDERAL SBA WOSB CERTIFIED and market-based pricing allow schools to understand the financial implications of different options. Rather than advancing a concept only to discover later that it exceeds available funding, leadership teams can evaluate alternatives and prioritize projects with greater confidence.

Understanding existing campus conditions is equally important. Evaluating building structures and systems, infrastructure capacity, deferred maintenance, site constraints, and opportunities for expansion can help determine where renovation makes sense and where replacement or new construction may provide greater longterm value.

Planning Around Campus Life

A master plan also needs to account for something every school understands: campus life does not stop for construction.

Academic calendars, summer and holiday breaks, student safety, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, athletics, events, and ongoing operations all influence how projects should be sequenced. Incorporating design durations, procurement timelines, phasing, and logistics into master planning can uncover opportunities to complete enabling work early, maximize limited summer construction windows, and minimize disruption as larger projects move forward.

Market conditions should also inform the roadmap. Labor availability, material escalation, procurement challenges, and long-lead equipment can significantly affect when a project should begin and how long it may take. Aligning these realities with fundraising, financing, and institutional decision-making allows schools to establish schedules that are ambitious but achievable.

Creating a Roadmap for Long-Term Investment

Ultimately, master planning is about making informed choices. Few schools can address every facility need at once, making it essential to understand where and when capital dollars can have the greatest impact.

A strong plan balances immediate priorities with long-term goals, helping leadership sequence investments while preserving flexibility for the future. As educational models, enrollment, technology, and student expectations evolve, the plan can provide a framework for future decisions without limiting new opportunities.

Providing cash flow forecasting as part of a school’ s master planning effort helps translate a long-range vision into a realistic, financeable capital program. By layering project-by-project cash flow projections into the master plan, the construction manager gives the board and business office a practical tool for evaluating funding, prioritizing projects, and sequencing investments over time. Because school master plans often identify more needs than any single funding cycle can support, this approach helps establish a clear and achievable path forward.

At Erland, we believe the construction manager’ s role can begin well before there is a project to build. By participating in the master planning process, we can help schools test assumptions, understand costs and constraints, evaluate sequencing, and identify practical paths from vision to execution.

Because the best master plans do more than illustrate what a campus could become. They provide a realistic, responsible roadmap for getting there.

Scott Bates is vice president, Strategy & Development at Erland Construction.

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