Boston College Embarks on $1.6 Billion Growth Plan (Update1)

By Brian Kladko

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Boston College plans to construct 15 new buildings and add 100 full-time faculty members during the next decade.

The Jesuit Catholic school, in Boston and Newton, Massachusetts, will spend $1.6 billion, an amount almost as large as its current endowment, according to a statement released today. Half of the money will go for new or renovated facilities, including nine dormitories.

The college, which receives the fourth-highest number of applications among private universities in the U.S., said adding beds will allow more students to live on campus. School officials say they will pay for the improvements through debt and donations and are preparing for a public fund-raising campaign with a minimum goal of $1 billion.

``Time to stretch,'' President William P. Leahy, the son of an Iowa farmer, said in an interview. ``We've had very significant expressions of support from alumni and friends about this plan.''

The school, which has a $1.75 billion endowment, is in the ``quiet phase'' of its fund-raising campaign, as officials assess what the ultimate goal should be. The university's most recent campaign, which ended in 2003, raised $440 million.

Leahy said the plan will put Boston College in a better position at competing against the University of Notre Dame near South Bend, Indiana, and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., the nation's two other top-rated Catholic schools. U.S. News and World Report ranks Boston College 35th among national universities, behind No. 19 Notre Dame and No. 23 Georgetown.

65 Acres

The college, which doesn't plan on adding to the undergraduate enrollment of 8,900, will develop 65 acres acquired since 2004, in a neighborhood called Brighton, from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The church sold properties partly to pay for settlements of sex-abuse lawsuits. The archdiocese sold the land that contained its headquarters for $172 million.

The former archdiocesan properties abut a residential area, and some citizens have said they would oppose placing dormitories on that land. Leahy said most residents will be better off because students who are now living in the neighborhood in off- campus housing will be in dormitories instead.

The college's master plan must be approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's main planning agency, before any construction can begin. School officials say they expect to get clearance in about 10 months, and they will begin building new playing fields, followed by student housing, as soon as permits are granted.

Across the Street

The land sits across the street from Boston College's 117- acre main campus at Chestnut Hill. The school also has a 40-acre satellite campus less than two miles away in Newton, where the law school and some dormitories are situated.

Some of the forthcoming buildings will be on the former church property, and others on the existing campuses. Four buildings, totaling 500,000 square feet, will be demolished.

Boston College is now carrying $630 million of debt, a figure that will rise in coming years, Leahy said. Tuition increases will remain at 5 percent to 6 percent a year, he said.

Moody's Investors Service in New York rates the college's debt Aa3, the fourth-highest rating on a 21-step scale.

The school will build four new academic facilities, including buildings for integrated sciences, nursing, social work and the humanities; a 200,000-square-foot recreation center; a university center; and a 1,500-seat baseball stadium.

More Faculty

The additional hires, both tenured and tenure-track professors, will increase the number of full-time faculty by about 15 percent. Leahy said not all departments will share the gains equally, with the humanities, natural sciences, law and social work expected to gain the most.

``It's targeted,'' said Leahy, 61, who became president in 1996 and intends to stay at least through 2013, when the fund- raising campaign ends. ``It's part of a niche strategy.''

The university will create several centers and institutes dedicated to liberal arts education, the humanities, undergraduate advising, student development, aging, Catholic education, molecular biology, organic chemistry and materials.

Leahy said one of his priorities will be fostering more communication between the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences faculties.

``Right now in American higher education, humanities departments tend to be isolated, fragmented,'' he said. ``We've got to get these departments talking about how have we evolved, what are the issues out there that touch on undergraduate liberal-arts education.''

Four decades ago, Boston College served mostly local students, said Jack Maguire, a former Boston College admissions dean. Today, the school has students from all 50 states.

Attracting Applicants

New York University, Boston University and the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, are the top U.S. schools at attracting undergraduate applicants, according to Boston College, citing data from U.S. News and World Report. For the class that entered in September, Boston College, in fourth place, received 28,820 applications and accepted about 7,780. Of those, 2,250 students enrolled.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Kladko in Boston at bkladko@bloomberg.net .

Last Updated: December 5, 2007 13:21 EST

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