Rhode Island voters have seen a bond measure supporting higher education on each state election ballot since 2010, and each time they have voted yes. This year kept up tradition, with RI voters approving bond question one.
This year, bond question one asked voters to approve $275 million in funding for its two public universities and its community college for CCRI and RIC. $165 million of the bond would fund an expansion of the University of Rhode Island’s White Hall as an Integrated Health building.
“The University of Rhode Island would not be where it is today without the support of these bonds,” URI President Marc Parlange said in an interview. “We’ve seen the investments in the University of Rhode Island really benefit the state of Rhode Island.”
URI has around a $2 billion impact on the state and returns $17.39 to the Rhode Island economy for every $1 invested, according to a March study commissioned by the university and conducted by consulting firm Tripp Umbach.
At URI, the bond would help “advance health education, clinical training and workforce development,” according to Article 5 of the 2026 state budget law. The university looks to accomplish this by bringing its health fields under one roof.
URI Health Sciences faculty say the new building would provide additional capacity to potentially support its various programs, particularly nursing. While additional space is a key factor of the proposed building, the investment would also fund simulation equipment for students to practice working with patients before getting face-to-face experience.
Health fields are in high demand in the state of Rhode Island and have seen significant growth at the university. Nursing has grown considerably in recent years. The intended result for Rhode Islanders is for both in-state and out-of-state students to stay and contribute to the field professionally, with about 40% of out-of-state students becoming permanent Rhode Island residents, according to Parlange.
The university still hopes to welcome students to its medical school in fall 2029, in line with a Tripp Umbach 2025 feasibility study commissioned by the university and Rhode Island Senate that calls for $22.5 million in support from the state each year once operational.
The Rhode Island Senate voted unanimously in support of the medical school in May, something Parlange described as a “thrilling moment.”
In 2024, URI and Rhode Island College collaborated on a successful $160.5 million bond measure.
At RIC, the $50 million would pay for the renovations to the Adams Library, according to Article 5 of the 2026 state budget law.
The project was originally estimated at $85 million, but RIC was asked to make it $50 million, according to Anastasia Rodriguez, the vice president of administration and finance at RIC.
RIC has already transformed portions of the library to accommodate student needs, taking the first three floors and turning it into academic support spaces for tutoring, advising and education services. The proposed renovations would build on those existing services while addressing the building’s old infrastructure and accessibility issues.
“The building was built in pieces over years, and so right now when you go in the building, to get to certain parts of it, you have to know which stairwell, elevator to access it,” Rodriguez said.
Beyond infrastructure improvements, the project would also create additional study spaces for students, specifically commuters who may need somewhere to spend time between classes, to be used during off-hours for more flexibility, according to Rodriguez. The college wants students to have access to academic guidance and career services alongside resources they use for coursework.
Although the renovations are centered around RIC students, the project could benefit Rhode Island residents since the library is open to the public, according to Rodriguez.
Now that question one is approved, the project still needs to go through several planning stages before the construction could begin.
It takes between one to two years from when the project is approved to when architects can be hired to design the renovation. Based on that timeline, the project could be completed around 2030 or 2031, according to Rodriguez.
The remaining $60 million of the measure will fund a new Workforce Innovation Center at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Warwick campus.
The Workforce Innovation Center would be about 44,000 square feet, according to the CCRI website. The center would directly support workforce preparation and connect Rhode Islanders to careers, according to a letter from Build Rhode Island to the Senate Finance Committee. The state faces workforce shortages, specifically in skilled trades, construction and health care.
Beyond recent graduates, Michael Sabitoni, a CCRI graduate and business manager of the Rhode Island Laborers’ District Council, hopes the center strengthens ties between higher education systems and the building trades.
“Most of our members end up with associate’s degrees,” Sabitoni said. “Young men and women, but also adult learners could use it.”
“We operate our own apprenticeship programs and training facilities throughout Rhode Island, but not every individual gets access to that,” Sabitoni said. “This will be another way and another pipeline for people into industries, in the construction industry, to a career path.”
Some of the skills that will be taught in this center will be hard to replicate by technological services like AI.
Before the center can begin preparing students for careers, CCRI must contend with a challenge: the rising cost of construction and materials.
CCRI asks for $60 million to start, but that may increase after construction. The factors of tariffs and interest rates come into play, as a lot of the sources come from neighboring countries, including lumber, steel and aluminum, as 80% of it comes from Canada, according to Sabitoni.
Moving quickly would help limit the increase in cost.
“The quicker we can nail down the passage of a bond on something that we absolutely think we need, the better off we are,” Sabitoni said.
Sabitoni is unsure of the timeline, but expects the center to be built under a project labor agreement with Rhode Island Building Trades.
With early voting already underway and Election Day on Tuesday, voters can visit Rhode Island’s voter information center website to register to vote and find their closest polling place.
