New $2.5 billion plan to modernize Massachusetts’ public universities and colleges, governor says

BOSTON — A new $2.5 billion plan will modernize public universities and colleges across Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday.

An Act to Build Resilient Infrastructure to Generate Higher Education Transformation, known as The BRIGHT Act, will modernize the UMass system, state universities, and community colleges. It will create approximately 15,000 construction-related jobs, Healey said in a statement.

The $2.5 billion bond bill represents the largest proposed investments in capital improvements in Massachusetts’ public higher education system in decades, Healey said.

The governor announced the bill at Bridgewater State University after touring the school’s “Cyber Range” where students learn cybersecurity skills.

“Our public university and college campuses have suffered from historic underinvestment since they were built in the 1970s. We refuse to kick the can down the road any longer when it comes to educating our kids and training our workers of tomorrow,” Healey said in a statement.

“With these transformative infrastructure investments, we will give students a cutting-edge education in our affordable public universities and colleges, create thousands of good-paying jobs for our workers and keep our state economically competitive for years to come,” Healey said.

The bond bill “will leverage Fair Share surtax to unlock significant new funding for capital improvements,” officials said.

The investments will help modernize campuses, including new labs, classrooms and improved mental health facilities in Massachusetts’ public higher education system.

“This bond bill meets the moment. Enrollment at our two and four-year institutions is surging after years of declines,” Higher Education Commissioner Noe Ortega said in a statement. “This historic investment will transform our public campuses and ensure students and faculty have the absolute best environments to learn, grow and thrive.”

UMass President Marty Meehan said that he looks forward to working with state officials and legislators “to secure this critical funding which will help us continue to provide world-class facilities for our students and faculty, pursue our sustainability and energy efficiency goals, and address our deferred maintenance backlog for the long-term fiscal health of the university.”

Healey said the planned improvements will include:

• Infusing new resources into proven programs that address deferred maintenance, modernize and decarbonize facilities, and construct major capital projects.
• Creating labs, classrooms and training facilities that meet the needs of today’s research and applied learning methods, such as web development, robotics and automation, advanced manufacturing, construction management and building trades.
• Improving facilities for student health, mental health, wellness, and safety.
• Encouraging regional secondary and higher education partnerships that strengthen the workforce.
• Incentivizing technology capital projects, such as improvements in online or hybrid workspaces.
• Continuing the successful Workforce Skills Capital Grants program.
• Supporting housing development by providing for higher education institutions’ costs associated with the disposition of land and buildings.

Healey said much of the infrastructure on public higher education campuses in Massachusetts was built in the 1970s “and is increasingly unable to meet the evolving needs of students.”

“Yet addressing this aging infrastructure is increasingly expensive given rising construction costs, decarbonization mandates, regulatory requirements, labor shortages and material price increases,” Healey said. “As a result, campus infrastructure needs are growing well above what traditional capital funding sources can accommodate.”

Healey’s forthcoming House 1 budget proposes to leverage $125 million in Fair Share revenues from Fiscal Year 2026 to support an estimated $2.5 billion in new borrowing for higher education infrastructure over the next 10 years, Healey said.

The BRIGHT Act works in tandem with this proposal, authorizing up to $3 billion in investments for campuses to address public higher education capital needs, Healey said.

“Our proposed strategy to borrow against Fair Share revenues is modeled on an approach we have successfully deployed in the transportation sector through the Commonwealth Transportation Fund,” Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz said in a statement.

“The bill we are filing today puts these new resources to work to ensure our campuses can address their significant deferred maintenance backlogs and decarbonize their infrastructure while also modernizing to meet the needs of today’s students and workforce,” Gorzkowicz said. “I am grateful to the Higher Education Working Group for their guidance as we developed this strategy.”

Bridgewater State University President Frederick Clark said he’s grateful for Healey’s capital bond bill for deferred maintenance on our public campuses.

“Although we work hard to address the need as best we can by utilizing student fees and modest state funds, BSU alone still has more than $200 million in deferred maintenance,” Clark said in a statement. “State support to modernize campus facilities is absolutely critical to enhance affordability, accessibility, and academic excellence for the students we are privileged to serve.”

The BRIGHT Act is informed by a report from the Higher Education Capital Working Group that was established in Massachusetts’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget.

The report, which is being released in tandem with the filing of the BRIGHT Act, summarizes the capital needs of the public higher education institutions and confirms the viability of leveraging Fair Share revenue to unlock new capital dollars. 

The report, and additional information on the BRIGHT Act can be found here.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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