The University of Guam (UOG) is set to complete the construction of new facilities valued at over $55 million this year. This ambitious project includes a new student center, an environmental research facility, a nursing annex, and the recently finished $8 million engineering building. UOG President Anita Borja Enriquez indicated that the final costs will likely exceed initial estimates when accounting for furniture, fixtures, and utilities.
“This is the largest combined effort regarding capital improvement that the university has embarked on,” Enriquez stated. To support the operational costs of these new facilities, the university is considering a long-delayed 5% tuition increase, which would generate an estimated $2 million annually. This increase would translate to approximately $100 more per semester for students.
Once completed in 2026, the construction will add around 85,000 square feet of classroom, lab, office, and collaborative student space. Enriquez emphasized that these facilities will produce more professionals needed on the island and in the broader region, potentially boosting enrollment figures.
The president spoke to the Pacific Daily News after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new $8 million School of Engineering Building, designed to accommodate nearly 300 engineering students. This building may incur further costs of over $2 million for furnishing. The upcoming ribbon-cutting for the Dr. Lucio Tan Student Success Center is scheduled for next Friday. This new 45,000 square foot center, located across from the UOG Calvo Field House, replaces an outdated facility and is projected to cost $22.9 million.
“This will house everything,” Enriquez remarked, detailing how the center will centralize various student services, including admissions, financial aid, behavioral health, and nursing services. Additionally, the center will feature a new dining hall, a Triton Store, a café, open gathering spaces, and an assembly hall for the Student Government Association.
The journey to construct this student center spanned about 15 years, impacted by lost funding in the past. The center is named after Lucio Tan, a business tycoon from the Philippines who contributed $1 million in seed funding. Funding for the new facilities is a combination of grants and donations from the UOG Endowment Foundation.
Following the student center, a new three-story facility for the Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Pacific (WERI) will open. This facility will encompass 13,000 square feet of research space, located behind the engineering school. Similar to the engineering building, furnishing costs for the WERI facility are expected to exceed $2 million. The university will also unveil the Margaret Perez Hattori-Uchima Nursing Annex, a 12,000 square foot addition to the existing nursing building, responding to the increasing demand for nurses in the region.
Enriquez noted that the construction process has been challenging, particularly due to rising costs of materials and labor. “It took a whole community—our government leaders, the UOG Endowment Foundation, alumni, and other partners—coming together to make this happen for our people,” she said.
Operating the new facilities will incur an estimated $2 million annually in utility and maintenance costs. When asked about the potential tuition increase, Enriquez mentioned that while a 5% increase is one option, it would not fully cover the additional operational costs. This increase would yield just over $250,000 annually, indicating a need for more comprehensive funding solutions.
Despite receiving a $39.95 million operational budget from lawmakers for fiscal 2026, an increase of $5.7 million from the previous year, it still falls short of UOG’s request of $47.3 million. Historically, the university has had to navigate budgetary constraints, including a significant $5.7 million bailout from lawmakers in March 2025, when it nearly exhausted its funds for salaries.
The UOG Board of Regents authorized tuition increases of up to 5% per year back in 2019, with a total cap of 30%. Although an initial increase was set for 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers froze tuition for two years in 2023 as part of a pay raise for university staff, but this freeze expired in September 2025.
Enriquez emphasized the importance of implementing cost-efficiency measures to address financial gaps in recent years. “We are in the business of higher education. As an academic enterprise, we have to employ business practices to try to balance the books,” she stated. The future of tuition and institutional funding remains a critical discussion as the university strives to expand its educational offerings while ensuring sustainability.
