LSU’s New School of Construction to Lead a Building Revolution

BATON ROUGE – The LSU Board of Supervisors approved the creation of the LSU School of Construction within the College of Engineering in Thursday’s meeting. The proposal now moves to the Louisiana Board of Regents for a vote in 2026 in a bid to position Louisiana to lead a once-in-a-generation transformation of the construction industry.

In the new School of Construction, one of only a handful housed within a College of Engineering in the United States, LSU plans to create teaching and research programs that change how America builds. Louisiana is already the construction leader in the Gulf South and ranks 40% above the national average for construction gross domestic product. The vision is to strengthen that advantage by integrating computer science, robotics, sensing and automation, advanced materials engineering, and data science with field-tested construction practices to deliver faster, safer, more sustainable projects across the country.

The state is home to one of the country’s most concentrated hubs of industrial construction, with many of the nation’s leading contractors headquartered within a few miles of LSU’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge. With over 7,000 miles of coastline, a significant port system, and a powerhouse oil and gas sector, the state is also a coastal and energy infrastructure leader.

Creating a School of Construction brings two key benefits to LSU and its College of Engineering. The school will serve as an engine of growth, attracting new faculty members and undergraduate and graduate students through new courses and degree programs. The school will also serve as a unifying force for discovery and invention, bringing together experts from a variety of disciplines to develop new materials, technologies, and processes that help the nation build faster, safer, and smarter.

“Construction is the foundation upon which America is built and it’s ripe for engineering driven innovation” said LSU Executive Vice President and Chancellor James Dalton. “There’s no better place in the world than the State of Louisiana and LSU to build a school integrating research and educational programs that will directly impact such an incredibly important industry”

The new Construction & Advanced Manufacturing Building will house the school. When it breaks ground in spring 2027 across the street from Tiger Stadium on South Stadium Drive, the 148,000-square-foot complex will feature advanced manufacturing facilities, robotics bays, 3D printing and digital fabrication spaces, materials and durability labs, and instrumented testbeds for sensing and safety projects. 

Donors have already given $42 million for the building, and the State of Louisiana has committed $42 million in funding, bringing the total raised to $84 million to date. The fundraising goal is $107 million. Several major industry partners led by LSU alumni back the building project, which has garnered support from dozens of alumni and friends with strong ties to the College of Engineering and a shared vision for its capacity for nation-leading impact. Leaders in the state’s construction and contracting industry seeded the idea for a school of construction into a strategic plan back in 2012, and college leaders have continued to work toward this goal through planning and fundraising.

The Bert S. Turner Department of Construction Management already graduates more construction professionals annually than any school in the nation. To attract even more students to LSU, college leaders have created two new construction management degree programs — construction engineering and fire and emergency safety administration — and are exploring new undergraduate degree programs in digital construction and modular manufacturing. They are also developing plans to hire faculty talent clusters in automation and robotics, digital twins and AI-enabled project delivery, resilient and low-carbon materials, and jobsite safety and sensing.

LSU Engineering Dean Vicki Colvin said a new School of Construction will have a significant, positive impact on Louisiana by:

• Growing the state’s high-wage workforce with stackable credentials and engineering degrees
• Increasing productivity and safety through the creation of new technologies
• Accelerating completion of critical infrastructure and reducing cost overruns
• Creating materials and methods that protect the Gulf Coast and support national energy goals
• Building small businesses through tech transfer, testbeds, and open standards

“This is a Louisiana-first strategy with national reach,” Colvin said. “Our state’s contractors build some of the nation’s most complex industrial projects. Partnering with them, LSU will turn Louisiana into America’s proving ground for construction innovation.”