Boise State breaks ground on Honors College facility

Boise State University took steps to prepare for the future this month as it celebrated the beginning of construction on a new $40 million Honors College and First-Year Residence Hall.

“(BSU) has changed significantly and dramatically as a metropolitan research university in the last few years,” President Bob Kustra said during the groundbreaking on April 7. “This project happens because we have been successful … because our Honors College has grown and attracted students from Idaho and from far and wide … because our faculty and staff have made this one of the most exciting undergraduate experiences you can find in America.”

Upon its completion in the fall of 2017, the new facility will serve as an Honors College living and learning center, combining housing for 650 students with dining, classrooms and other services designed to enhance the overall student experience at BSU. The 236,000-square-foot facility will be on University Drive, across from the current Student Union Building. 

“(This facility) puts us in a rare and select company of schools across the country that have a full living and learning community,” Andrew Finstuen, dean of the Boise State University Honors College, said. “Right in the heart of campus we have a building that will shout academic excellence.”