A Positive Move: 12th Annual College M&O Cost Study

Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Joe Agron

Colleges placed more of an emphasis on maintenance and operations (M&O) this school year by increasing the amount spent on M&O as a percentage of total budget. While still short of percentage-spending amounts from years past, the upward move is welcome as higher-education institutions attempt to address a backlog of deferred maintenance and rapidly deteriorating facilities.

According to American School & University's 12th annual College Maintenance and Operations Cost Study, spending on M&O as a percentage of total college budget increased to 11 percent from 10 percent last year. School district spending on M&O remained fairly constant at 7.5 percent of total budget.

Crunching the numbers

Data for the annual M&O Cost Study was collected via an in-depth questionnaire mailed in October to physical plant directors at two-year colleges and four-year institutions with no significant graduate programs. Recipients were asked to document various M&O costs for the 2005-06 school year.

The survey only targets two-year colleges and four-year institutions with no significant graduate programs in order to provide useful comparative data. Larger four-year universities with significant graduate programs are not surveyed because their costs and activities typically are so varied that results would be less useful.

The M&O Cost Study breaks out data by two-year, four-year and all colleges. The tables and charts found throughout the report detail median M&O expenditures per full-time-equivalent (FTE) student and per square foot, as well as the incidence of various maintenance practices.

Table 1 outlines median M&O expenditures per FTE student for categories such as salaries, benefits, gas, electricity, other utilities, custodial/maintenance and grounds equipment and supplies, vehicle maintenance and total M&O, and identifies the percentage of total budget colleges direct to M&O.

Table 2 details median M&O expenditures per square foot of building maintained for categories such as salaries, benefits, gas, electricity, other utilities, custodial/maintenance and grounds equipment and supplies, vehicle maintenance and total M&O, and lists the square footage of building maintained per FTE student.

Table 3 highlights salary data for a variety of M&O job functions at two-year, four-year and all colleges, as well as the median number of employees for those functions. Among the titles included:

• Administrative: Those individuals who have managerial or supervisory duties (does not include the overall director of physical plant).

• Custodial: Those individuals responsible for building upkeep and cleaning.

• Grounds: Those individuals responsible for landscape maintenance and upkeep.

• Maintenance: Those individuals who perform skilled jobs, such as plumbing, electrical or HVAC repair.

• Secretarial/Clerical: Those individuals who perform secretarial duties.

Additional highlights of this year's survey:

• The median M&O budget for all colleges is $2.4 million ($2.2 million at two-year colleges and $3.0 million at four-year institutions).

• The median FTE enrollment of survey respondents is 1,865 (2,500 at two-year colleges and 1,405 at four-year institutions).

• The amount of square feet maintained per custodian jumped to 35,326 from 30,960 last year. At two-year colleges, the number of square feet maintained per custodian is 35,326; at four-year institutions, it is 36,354.

• Square feet maintained per maintenance worker increased this year to 74,714 from 70,062 last year.

• The number of acres maintained per grounds employee remained constant at 25.

• The median total utilities cost for all colleges is $740,000. Gas and electricity account for approximately 85 percent of the cost for all utilities.

• The median number of buildings on a two-year college campus is 13; the median number of buildings on a four-year campus is 23.

• Both two-year and four-year colleges increased their practice of outsourcing M&O services. Twenty-seven percent of two-year colleges and 26 percent of four-year colleges use privatized services (20 and 22 percent, respectively, last year).

Agron is editor-in-chief for AS&U. He can be reached at jagron@asumag.com.

TABLE 1
Maintenance & Operations Costs
(Expressed in median dollars per FTE student)

	All Colleges	%	Two-Year	%	Four-Year	%
Salaries	$393.44	38%	$288.19	40%	$765.02	36%
Benefits (based on full-time only)	$100.65	10%	$68.03	10%	$216.31	10%
Total Utilities	$360.40	35%	$235.53	33%	$691.19	32%
Gas**	$67.25		$50.75		$186.60
Electricity**	$214.68		$146.23		$292.29
Gas & Electricity (subtotal)	$295.97		$216.07		$454.23
Other Utilities**	$29.30		$14.99		$89.84
Total Equipment & Supplies	$58.50	6%	$45.00	6%	$148.20	7%
Custodial/Maint. Equip. & Supplies**	$35.00		$30.77		$67.85
Grounds Equip. & Supplies**	$10.66		$9.24		$14.29
Vehicle Maintenance	$9.09	1%	$6.63	1%	$19.29	1%
Other	$100.32	10%	$69.63	10%	$290.63	14%
Total M&O Budget*	$1,022.40	100%	$713.01	100%	$2,130.64	100%
% M&O of Total College Budget	11.0%		11.0%		10.5%
*Calculated from sub-totals (in bold).
**Based on fewer responses than the total due to schools that combine some of these categories.

TABLE 2
Maintenance & Operations Costs
(Expressed in median dollars per square foot)

	All Colleges	Two-Year	Four-Year
Salaries	$1.70	$1.89	$1.54
Benefits (based on full-time only)	$0.48	$0.49	$0.46
Total Utilities	$1.78	$1.78	$1.77
Gas**	$0.36	$0.33	$0.41
Electricity**	$0.91	$1.01	$0.73
Gas & Electricity (subtotal)	$1.40	$1.48	$1.26
Other Utilities**	$0.26	$0.24	$0.29
Total Equipment & Supplies	$0.35	$0.32	$0.35
Custodial/Maint. Equip. & Supplies**	$0.18	$0.18	$0.18
Grounds Equip. & Supplies**	$0.08	$0.08	$0.10
Vehicle Maintenance	$0.05	$0.05	$0.04
Other	$0.80	$0.96	$0.43
Total M&O Budget*	$5.16	$5.49	$4.59
SF of bldg. maint. per FTE student	197	142	401
*Calculated from subtotals (in bold).
**Based on fewer responses than the total due to schools that combine some of these categories.

TABLE 3
Median M&O salaries and number of employees at colleges
(Full-time employees)

Function	Salary	# of Employees
Administrative	$51,060	2
Custodial/Housekeeping	$24,000	13
Grounds	$29,777	4
Maintenance	$33,425	7
Secretarial/Clerical	$26,583	1

FTE enrollment
(of responding institutions)

Less than 600 students	12%
600 - 999 students	13%
1000 - 1999 students	20%
2000 - 2999 students	13%
3000 - 4999 students	11%
5000 - 9999 students	10%
10,000 students or more	10%
No answer	11%

M&O budget
(of survey respondents)

$1 million or less	18%
$1 million to $2 million	19%
$2,000,001 to $3 million	13%
$3,000,001 to $5 million	19%
More than $5 million	17%
No answer	14%

Number of buildings at institution

1 to 4 buildings	16%
5 to 10 buildings	20%
11 to 15 buildings	14%
16 to 25 buildings	22%
26 to 40 buildings	13%
More than 40 buildings	13%
No answer	2%

Total grounds acreage maintained
(by survey respondents)

Less than 40 acres	17%
40 to 80 acres	20%
80.1 to 110 acres	18%
110.1 to 200 acres	21%
More than 200 acres	13%
No answer	11%

Square-footage details
Medians by institution type:

Category	All Colleges	Two-Year	Four-Year
SF of bldg. maintained per student	197	142	401
SF maintained per custodial employee	35,326	35,326	36,354
SF maintained per maintenance employee	74,714	74,714	75,418
Acres maintained per grounds employee	25	28	22
Total reported 2005-06 M&O Budget	$2.37 million	$2.19 million	$3.01 million

Space maintained
Square feet of building maintained per full-time-equivalent (FTE) student at colleges over the past decade (in median square feet):

1996	186
1997	220
1998	194
1999	206
2000	219
2001	213
2002	189
2003	207
2004	183
2005	197

Total gross area maintained of all buildings
(including corridors and other common and office areas)
(by responding institutions)

Less than 150,000 sq. ft.	12%
150,000 to 299,999 sq. ft.	14%
300,000 to 449,999 sq. ft.	17%
450,000 to 599,999 sq. ft.	13%
600,000 to 749,999 sq. ft.	13%
750,000 to 999,999 sq. ft.	10%
1 million sq. ft. or more	13%
No answer	8%