The request includes large-scale, building-specific projects, such as $40.7 million to renovate UWM’s student union, portions of which date back to 1956.

But the largest chunk of the System’s request, $300 million, would go toward smaller maintenance-related projects that could help clear a backlog that’s been building up for years. Two-thirds of the $300 million would come through state-funded borrowing.

How much the System will receive in the upcoming budget remains uncertain. In the last six fiscal years, the state allocated about $183 million for small maintenance projects through state-funded borrowing. Over that same period the System has requested $241.3 million, while campuses have asked for even more — $427.4 million.

‘Catch us up’

The System’s unprecedented capital request, which tops a billion dollars for the first time in its history, is needed to “catch us up” from a lack of state funding over recent years, System officials said last summer.