With 100-square-feet per student, Ball State University has the second lowest square footage per full-time student of the seven public, four-year Indiana institutions.
Despite the ranking, university personnel say the statistic illustrates efficiency, not a problem.
Thomas Morrison, associate vice president for human resources and state relations, said the statistic was a measure of efficiency.
"It actually shows we are quite responsible with [the] building of the campus," Morrison said. "We are not over-built, and it means that we have built buildings that we need."
The statistic uses areas such as classrooms, office space and lab space, he said, and does not include areas such as residence halls.
Kevin Kenyon, associate vice president, facilities planning and management, said the university adds space to address needs and not for the sake of adding space.
"We define the building needs by programmatical needs," he said. "It doesn't say we shouldn't continue building more."
Kenyon said comparing universities such as Indiana and Purdue to Ball State was like comparing apples to oranges.
"There is building after building that is research space the typical undergraduates would not be involved in," Kenyon said.
Morrison said comparing the universities was difficult because of the different stresses in curriculum.
Student tuitions do not dictate if a building is built, Morrison said, but the college must receive permission from the Indiana General Assembly.
"We don't get to say when we spend capital development," he said. "Students don't pay for facilities, the state does."
The information is three years old and the state, which compiles data, will issue an updated report soon, Morrison said.
"The data went to the [state] this year, and we are just waiting for the analysis to be done," he said.
Kenyon said because the results were outdated, they did not take into account the Letterman Building and that enrollment had gone down.
"Our enrollment has trended down," he said," [and] that would make that number go up in the next report."
Kenyon said that a high square-footage-to-student ratio would indicate an inefficient use of space.
"Ball State has a history of sharing its space," he said. "Having a sense of cooperation secures our efficiency."
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