Officials from the University of New Hampshire want $38 million in the state’s next two-year capital budget to help expand the school’s STEM programs.
The university’s presentation Monday morning kicked off two days of hearings on $227 million in capital spending requests from 18 state agencies.
President Mark Huddleston described UNH as the state’s “STEM factory,” as he made his case before Governor Maggie Hassan and members of her capital budget advisory committee.
The issue now, he says, is one of space.
If funded, he says the university’s laboratory space dedicated to engineering and STEM-related programs would expand by 150,000 square feet.
“It will allow us to at a minimum increase by 250 the number of students that we’re sending out each year into the world of STEM. That can have a material effect on workforce needs.”
The $50 million project would include renovations and additions to five buildings.
The other $12 million would be funded by the university system.
Final decisions about what projects will actually get funding won’t be made until next year.