SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
520 students.
Looking at middle schools, the median cost is $221.82
per square foot. Median spending per pupil was $38,718
and the median middle school provides 173.3 square feet
per student. The median number of students in middle
schools built in 2013 is 705 and the building size is 120,000
square feet. The cost is $29 million.
The median high school cost $45.2 million and
provided 162,500 square feet. It was designed to accommodate almost 1,000 students. The median high school
provides 174.2 square feet per student at $47,500 for each
student. The cost per square foot was $249.47.
Trends since 1995
This is the 19th year that School Planning & Management has collected and published data on costs of new
schools in the United States. Reporting is done based on
medians. The number shown is more than what one-half
of schools constructed cost and less than the cost for the
other half.
In 1995 the median school district was paying about
$104 per square foot to construct high schools; $99 for
middle schools and $93 per square foot for elementary. By
2003, high school construction costs had risen to $132 per
sq ft, a 25% increase. Four years later, in 2007, the median
high school was being constructed for $171 per sq. ft. In
2011 median costs for constructing a high school reached
$219. Last year the cost of constructing a new high school
was estimated at $249 per square foot, a significant jump.
The middle school picture was similar. From 1999
(when costs were $108 per sq ft), the price rose steadily to
$130 in 2003 and $162 in 2007. In 2009, the median cost
for a new middle school was $187.50 per sq ft, a 73 percent
increase over a decade. In 2010, reported costs surged to
better than $215 per square foot but in 2011 and 2012 they
fell back to $195. In 2013, based on reports from 94 middle
school projects construction costs went way up to $221.
The cost of constructing an elementary school has more
than doubled since 1995, going from $93 to $202 today, but
that figure represents a slight decline from one year earlier
when the median elementary school cost was $204.79.
This article is based on the 19th Annual School Construction Report published in the February 2014 issue of
School Planning & Management magazine. The report
was compiled and written by Paul Abramson, President of
Intelligence for Education Inc. Mamaroneck NY (intelled@
aol.com).
Table 4 - Profile of New Schools Completed in 2013
National
Medians
$/Sq. Ft.
$/Student
Sq. Ft./Student
No. of
Students
Bulding Size
(Sq.Ft)
Building Cost
($000s)
Elementary
Schools
$201.79
$30,551
149.6
520
79,623
$15,850,000
Middle
Schools
$221.82
$38,718
173.3
705
120,000
$29,000,000
High Schools
$249.47
$47,500
174.2
992
162,500
$45,233,500
Low Quartile
$/Sq. Ft.
$/Student
Sq. Ft./Student
No. of
Students
Elementary
Schools
$165.38
$22,707
.128.0
372
59,680
$11,800,000
Middle
Schools
$187.50
$28,189
144.4
531
89,000
$19,600,000
High Schools
$192.31
$33,333
150.9
565
118,500
$24,000,000
Bulding Size
(Sq.Ft)
Bulding Size
(Sq.Ft)
Building Cost
($000s)
High Quartile
$/Sq. Ft.
$/Student
Sq. Ft./Student
No. of
Students
Building Cost
($000s)
Elementary
Schools
$269.90
$35,714
174.7
682
100,000
$22,830,000
Middle
Schools
$290.60
$53,361
198.7
935
166,000
$35,000,000
High Schools
$359.16
$65,597
214.3
1500
250,000
$75,000,000
To read this table: The national median cost per square foot for construction of an elementary school completed in 2013 was $201.79.
Cost per student was $30,551 and the median school provides 149.6 square feet per student. One quarter of all school districts (the low
25%) spent $165.38 per square foot or less for its elementary school construction while one quarter of all districts spent $269.90 per
square foot or more. The median high school completed in 2013 cost $45.2 million and the median middle school cost $29 million.
12 essentials | summer 2014