LINCOLN- On Thursday, the NU Board of Regents unanimously approved the creation of a "building renewal fund," which will support the long-term care of university facilities, or around 70% of all state-owned buildings in Nebraska. NU Vice President of Business and Finance Chris Kabourek described the plan as a "capstone moment" for the university system, and said it might help NU address an $800 million backlog of deferred maintenance needs.

"We had a long discussion about the facilities on our campuses, the deferred maintenance, and a long-term, strategic plan to address that," said Kabourek, "That took a lot of strategic thought, a lot of leadership." Over the past year, NU was able to capitalize on historically low interest rates to refinance nearly $500 million in existing bond debt. which created $50 million in savings that was used to create an "internal lending program" used to address facility needs.

University leaders partnered with then-Gov. Ricketts and the Legislature to pass LB384 in 2021, which increased state and university funding for deferred maintenance projects through 2062, which allowed NU to secure $400 million in bond at 2.99%. Kabourel said that as interest rates have risen dramatically since NU was able to secure financing, so too have the savings for Nebraska taxpayers over the next four decades.

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