These 30 Colleges Have Had The Best Renovations. See How A Modern Campus Means A Great Learning Experience

In 2014, Augusta University unveiled one of the most modern medical training facilities on the planet. This building is the result of a $76 million project to provide Augusta's students with everything they need to become incredible medical practitioners. It's 175,000 square feet in total, and it's equipped with a 40,000 square foot simulation center, which trains students in all areas of medicine. To fund this outstanding project, Augusta received $42 million in bond funding from the State of Georgia and over $34.5 million in charitable donations.

Frostburg State University put $71 million into its Center for Communications and Information Technology. And that money was spent on some amazing things. In addition to world-class teaching facilities, it has TV studios, radio studios and a planetarium with a video feed to a rooftop observatory. Everything about this building is cutting edge. It even had a virtual ribbon cutting for its grand opening ceremony. The center opened in late 2014, and it's been a huge hit with Frostburg students ever since. They apparently enjoy studying in the building so much that they need to be told to leave when the building closes at night.

Many colleges are building business relationships with their home cities, and Johns Hopkins University is no exception. In 2017, the 23,000 foot start-up incubator FastForward 1812 opened in Baltimore and immediately acquired 19 business tenants. This number has only increased since. The innovation hub has offices, laboratories, communal workspaces, access to legal, accounting and fundraising experts and unlimited coffee for tenants. Many of the current businesses are former Johns Hopkins students, and others hire new graduates. The building cost $65 million.

The University of Massachusetts, Amherst's staff members realized that they needed to house their construction and architecture courses in an incredible building. So from 2015 to 2017, they built, "the largest and most technologically advanced academic contemporary wood structure in the US." This was possible due to a system that mixes wood and concrete flooring, which was pioneered at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst itself. In total, the four-floor building cost $52 million and has a roof garden, motion sensors, electro-tinting glass and many more modern features. Not only is it filled with everything that an architecture or design student needs to become successful, but it's also a giant testament to what they can achieve.

In the last 20 years, University of Michigan Dearborn has doubled in size. However, it's not just claiming new space but also working out how to make its existing spaces more practical. This can be perfectly seen in its Natural Sciences Building, which is adopting a flexible classroom environment so that spaces can be used for multiple activities and subjects. This means that most of the furniture in the building is portable, and simple technology is installed, which professors of all subjects can use. This renovation cost $51 million and is 99,404 square feet in total.

This incredible building only opened in 2017, but it has already won a number of prestigious design awards. Rice University has created Moody Center of the Arts to both teach students about art in a world-class manner and to be a cultural center for the public. Inside the building is a museum art gallery, an experimental art gallery, a multimedia gallery, a studio theater, a maker space, classrooms, a tech library, audiovisual editing booths, offices for visiting artists and a cafe. The building cost $50 million.

This 1970 building has undergone extensive renovations and expansions in recent years. In 2016, the new version of James Branch Cabell Library was launched to the world. It had 96,000 square feet of new construction, adding study, collaboration, discovery and creation spaces for students. It also added a section for collections and archives that focus on the college's specialist subjects, such as Virginia and Richmond history and graphic arts. It then installed a workshop with a 4K video studio, media equipment, video editing software a video game lounge, 3-D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines and more. And if all that wasn't enough, it installed a Starbucks. The renovation cost $50.8 million.

Between 2015 and 2018, College of Lake County, Illinois completely remodeled its main campus, Grayslake. This project involved $50 million of renovations, which saw 190,000 square feet of buildings demolished and rebuilt with an extra 30,000 square feet added. Some of the improvements undertaken in this time included moving the cafeteria from the basement to above ground, creating a modern welcome center, designing new study and social areas, adding learning areas and micro-classrooms, installing high-efficiency lighting and much more.

This $45 million building was designed with creative and practical considerations in mind, both inside and out. The exterior of the building is largely cased in copper and will change color over the years, meaning that Lassonde Studios will never look exactly the same. The interior is in a flexible grid system, so the rooms can expand and decrease while following a similar structure. The building assists students in numerous ways. It has 400 residential units for living, creative spaces for studying and business startup incubator services that students are utilizing upon completing their degrees.

University of Pennsylvania completed this start-up business incubator in 2016. It was built over 23 acres of properties opposite University of Pennsylvania's main campus. Prior to this huge incubator, the site was home to a range of industrial buildings, such as paint factories, which the University refurbished for its main center. This main center has 58,000 square foot of space and mixes its industrial past with the very modern. Pennovation Works will expand into new projects to connect students with the local business community in coming years. However, it also currently runs a range of interesting activities, such as events, business programs, business matchmaking and more. The main center renovation, site landscaping, and other improvements cost $37.5 million.

In 2014, Alverno College began over $32 million worth of renovations on its campus. The staff members focused on creating a cutting-edge nursing simulation center, a new classroom building, and a student commons area. Of all its renovations, the La Verna Student Commons is definitely the jewel in the crown. Prior to the building's renovation, students were cramped and struggled to focus on work and organization activity. The renovation has doubled this space in size and fits in a range of student services, such as the Service Learning Center.

University Business states that University of Nevada, Reno has been undertaking a range of impressive renovation and construction projects in recent years. Perhaps its most impressive renovation is the complete demolition and reconstruction of its Getchell Building. Prior to 2014, the Getchell Building served as the core base of the college's library. However, the college's management had ambitious ideas for the space, and approved The William N. Pennington Student Achievement Center in its place. This new building cost $45 million and brought together a range of innovative student services into one place. It also boasts incredible views of Northern Nevada.

This building took an extremely long time to create. It opened in 2009, after 20 years of planning and construction. Even though this is one of the oldest campus renovations on the list, the Center definitely earns its place. It has over 107,000 square feet of usable space and features a cinema, mailboxes for all students, venues for major events, student publication workspaces, student programming space and event services. It's also regularly used by the public as a wedding venue. The building cost $35 million.

This building cost $30 million, before accounting for the extensive state of the art equipment that Clemson University added. It opened in early 2016 and wowed the college's students. Charles Watt, who is the Innovation Center's executive director, stated that he believes the building and its infrastructure will become, "the model for advanced academic buildings for all other universities." Each floor contains interactive video screens that dominate the movable walls. Also, upon opening, the outside of the building had the USA's largest media mesh grid for playing video content. The center's mission is to, "create an environment where collaboration between students, faculty, and leaders from industry and government agencies generates ideas and solves complex problems."

From 2015 to 2017, Northwestern decided to make the most out of its existing Seeley G. Mudd Library. It did this by transforming it into a hall that has multiple functions at different times of the day. Upon completion of the renovation, Mudd Hall had collaborative student resources, scientific laboratories and three empty floors, which were built in anticipation of future academic expansion. Since opening, Mudd Hall has expanded and continues to expand into providing active learning classrooms, a video recording studio, 3-D printing technology and more. Northwestern has not disclosed the cost of the initial renovation or expanding facilities.

In future years, Wichita State University could become recognized as having the world's most cutting-edge facilities and infrastructure. It is currently building out its Innovation Campus, with many incredible planned buildings soon to enter construction. However, the completion of its Experiential Engineering Building is still highly significant. This building opened in early 2017. It is 143,000 square feet and filled with state of the art equipment, 25 laboratories, and the Go Create space, which offers students access to wood, metal and textiles for their own personal development projects. The building cost $32 million.

This college's Science and Engineering School is based in a now renovated former airplane hangar. The teaching area, originally called Akerman Hall but renamed the Gary J. Balas Atrium in 2015, benefitted from a $5.3 million renovation that the college managed. Prior to the renovation, it had coped with temporary laboratories and an inefficient layout for 25 years. It now has state of the art industrial research labs, collab spaces and more. The hangar's redesign has also ensured that it saves approximately $70,000 per year in energy costs.

In 2017, Tufts University opened its new Science and Engineering Complex, which cost $10 million. This was thanks to Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, who funded the entire project. The building is economical in price and in resource usage. Its design has ensured that it uses 77% less energy, 31% less water, and 30% less lighting than the average building of its size. Like many other college renovations, Tufts is adopting a more open and collaborative work environment with this new space. The college president, Anthony Monaco, said, "It is through working together - and connecting and sharing ideas informally in these bright new and renovated spaces - that exciting innovation can occur."

It may not look like it, but the Perry World House is one of the oldest buildings at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2016, a renovation was completed on this almost 200-year-old cottage, turning it into a futuristic, stylish building. As the name suggests, Perry World House is where University of Pennsylvania's global engagement team is located. This team uses the building to conduct research dedicated to solving global problems, create student programming for a globalized society and run events. The renovation cost $17.8 million.

This renovation is one of the most loving but time-consuming on the list. Washington and Lee University is home to a range of historic buildings. Tucker Hall is part of the college's Colonnade national historic landmark, and as such, the renovations had to be handled with great care. The renovation work was originally intended to last five years, but in reality, it took 10 years to complete. Over $50 million was spent in ensuring that the building had up to date equipment but also maintained a classical and historical look. The building now houses the romance languages, classics, and religion departments