The team from CenTrio will open this year's Summit.

• 

Join this dynamic discussion on the current landscape and future outlook for campus infrastructure and capital investment in higher education. The session will delve into the latest trends, opportunities, and challenges shaping the market, including how institutions are navigating financial constraints, evolving campus needs, and the demand for sustainable, resilient infrastructure. Explore innovative financing structures, partnership models, and strategies that are driving successful project delivery and long-term value creation for colleges and universities.

Hear directly from university leaders during our exclusive fireside chats!  These conversations will shed light on their major projects, the difficulties they navigate, important lessons learned, and their vision for what lies ahead.
 

Complete the form here to secure your spot!

Join us for an insightful exploration of how innovative public-private partnerships (P3s) can revolutionize campus infrastructure to foster comprehensive student wellbeing and success. This session will delve into the multifaceted approach to student wellness, as illustrated by the “wellbeing wheel,” encompassing physical, emotional, social, intellectual, occupational, environmental, spiritual, and financial dimensions.

We will explore five P3 strategies that universities are adopting to foster student growth and wellbeing. These strategies encompass housing innovations to enhance student and workforce living experiences, research and innovation districts that provide real-world learning opportunities, the development of 'third spaces' to create vibrant community hubs, workforce housing initiatives to improve student-faculty engagement, and sustainability-focused infrastructure projects that align with environmental goals and student values. These cutting-edge approaches demonstrate how universities are leveraging P3s to create campus environments that holistically support student success across multiple dimensions of wellness.

This innovation lunch will provide valuable insights for campus leaders, administrators, and planners looking to leverage P3s to create wellness-driven campuses that address the evolving needs of today's students. Join us to discover how your institution can shape a campus environment that not only supports academic excellence but also nurtures every aspect of student wellbeing.

• 

In the new era of collegiate sports, Universities must remain competitive not only in the athletics facilities that they build, but creating destinations that drive economic growth, community engagement and year round activation.  Hear insights from universities, developers and advisors that have implemented athletics anchored mixed-use and entertainment districts how lessons learned can be applied at other campuses across the country.

As jurisdictions across the country adopt policies to advance thermal energy networks (TENs), higher education institutions find themselves at the forefront of clean energy transformation, but face a paradox. P3 energy projects on campuses are typically designed to modernize thermal generation and distribution while stopping short of becoming regulated utilities. Yet, as campuses grow and interface with surrounding communities, new models can emerge.

This panel will explore how creating a separate thermal energy network entity (distinct from the university itself) can resolve the regulatory and operational barriers institutions traditionally strive to avoid. By positioning the university as either an anchor customer or thermal energy supplier, this structure enables campuses to catalyze broader decarbonization beyond their physical footprint while preserving internal focus and mission and serving their communities.

We'll examine creative financial structures, including off-balance sheet arrangements, shared infrastructure ownership and availability-based payments, as well as long-term O&M strategies to ensure accountability and risk-sharing. The panel will highlight how campuses, developers, and public agencies can leverage these networks as scalable, resilient, and economically viable solutions.

School Districts and Universities have long been recognized as anchor institutions, maintaining facilities that define and activate communities by educating and engaging students. Increasingly, these institutions are leveraging their real estate portfolios to encourage direct investment in neighborhoods, often with an emphasis on equitable development. With a focus on workforce, affordable housing, and mixed income housing, panelists will discuss how education institutions are creating private development opportunities that both preserve and thoughtfully transform communities.

As universities increasingly turn to public private partnerships (P3s) to address their housing needs, a new model is emerging that goes beyond the development of a single building or facility. This panel discussion will explore the evolving approach of campus-wide housing partnerships, examining the critical differences, benefits, and risks of undertaking an institution’s portfolio as compared to traditional, single-asset P3s. Our experts will discuss the full spectrum of these models, from comprehensive agreements involving full monetization and risk transfer to management-only partnerships. The conversation will cover when a campus-wide partnership makes strategic sense for an institution and the partner selection process that is often different from single-asset P3s. We will also address the capital markets, legal implications, and the opportunities and challenges of these large-scale ventures.

Hear directly from university leaders during our exclusive fireside chats!  These conversations will shed light on their major projects, the difficulties they navigate, important lessons learned, and their vision for what lies ahead.

Appalachian State University is building a new Innovation District on its campus. The initial phase of the Innovation District includes a STEM academic building, on-campus faculty and staff housing, and a new district energy system. The university utilized the public-private-partnership model to finance two-thirds of the project. This panel will focus on describing each of the three components of the project and the various financing structures used.

During our networking reception, we will be hosting the 2025 Higher Education Leadership Forum. The Forum is where participating colleges and universities will host their own table, offering a dedicated setting to engage directly with private sector leaders and peers.  It’s a dynamic space designed to spark conversation, build relationships, and lay the groundwork for future collaboration.

Leaders from CenTrio, Eastern Michigan University (EMU), and Syracuse University (SU) will compare and contrast several CenTrio University Concession Agreements. This analysis will highlight advantages of the P3 model, such as flexibility in structure and execution and the ability to address various challenges and goals with innovative methods. These methods support the diverse financial goals of university leaders considering P3 projects. Examples of such primary goals include system monetization through an upfront payment, system modernization under a Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) model, and hybrid solutions offering an all-inclusive approach.

Hear directly from university leaders during our exclusive fireside chats!  These conversations will shed light on their major projects, the difficulties they navigate, important lessons learned, and their vision for what lies ahead.

Michigan Technological University recently completed a new residential facility for upper-division students through an innovative procurement approach. Initially conceived as a tax-exempt P3 transaction, the project reverted to on-balance sheet financing after comprehensive financial analysis, including formal indicative rating.

This panel will explore MTU's master plan rationale for pursuing alternative procurement methods and examine feasibility challenges including unique site conditions, programmatic requirements of dining, local construction market constraints, and cost of capital considerations. Project financing risk transfer proved critical to MTU's decision-making process.

Panelists will detail the indicative rating process, its outcomes, and why the University ultimately chose to leverage its own balance sheet and credit while maintaining a developer-driven design-build delivery model. The discussion will cover construction processes, initial operations, and operational adjustments required for managing a facility with construction standards that differed from the University's traditional approach.

MTU representatives will address changes to meal plan design reflecting the new dining approach and lessons learned from this hybrid approach that combined traditional university financing with alternative delivery methods.

University of Kentucky (UK) is undertaking its third parking garage project as a P3 development.   In 2018, UK issued an RFP seeking a developer for construction of a mixed-use parking facility, with retail and university space on the first level and parking on upper levels (the Keystone Project). Signet Real Estate Group was chosen as lead developer.  The financing involved issuance of tax-exempt and taxable certificates of participation (COP) under a facilities lease to UK.  While the developer was charged with development, construction and financing (DBF) of the project, the university elected to retain operation and maintenance (OM) responsibilities.  In 2024, UK undertook a second P3 parking garage project, for a new parking facility adjacent to UK’s expanding medical center complex.  On June 25, 2025, UK closed the financing for its third P3 parking project, this one involving expansion of an existing parking structure and an adjacent student recreational center.   The case study compares and contrasts the three projects and discusses the evolution of financing and development processes across the projects.