Penn State President Graham Spanier said Friday that he expects the pace of construction of new buildings at Penn State Commonwealth Campuses to slow because of increasing costs.

"We have 20 or 30 buildings right now that I would love to build. There's only one thing holding me back: money," Spanier said at Friday night's Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG) meeting.

Spanier said although funding for construction has remained constant, construction costs have doubled since he became president of Penn State 12 years ago.

"What we're going to see across the commonwealth is a slowdown of new buildings," he said.

Penn State spokesman Geoff Rushton said increases in the cost of fuel and steel are in part responsible for rising construction costs.

"When a lot of construction projects have come up, the costs of them has increased as the planning has gone on," he said.

Spanier said although he would like to borrow more money, Penn State was "pretty much" at the debt ceiling that credit agencies have set. He also said most donors prefer to give money for scholarships rather than construction.

Most funding for buildings does not come from tuition, Spanier said.

"Out of every dollar you folks pay in tuition, only 3.5 cents go to new buildings," he said.

Based on this year's in-state tuition for freshman and sophomores, that equates to about $400 in construction per student each year.

Spanier said state funding and donations provided some of the funding. Residence halls pay for themselves through student fees, he said.

"You can't build a residence hall unless you are 100 percent sure that it will be fully occupied," he said.

Rushton said Penn State's budget is "very compartmentalized" and the sources of funding vary from project to project.

Multiple CCSG representatives asked Spanier if new classroom or residence hall buildings would be constructed at their campuses. When a Penn State Berks representative asked if his campus would get a new building soon, Spanier said one would probably not be built until after the student graduated.

Spanier said part of the problem was the changing demographics at Commonwealth Campuses. He said some campuses have doubled in population since they were built, while the population at other campuses is more stable.

"They really don't need more space -- they might need better space," he said, referring to campuses without rapid growth.

Jerry Livingston, CCSG president, said he thinks the university understands the importance of construction at Commonwealth Campuses.

He said increasing construction costs put more pressure on Commonwealth Campus officials to seek donations from their local communities. For example, he said, Penn State Altoona's Community Arts Center was financed in large part by private donations.

Spanier also discussed tuition, saying there was "really no way for tuition to come down."

He said he supported a recent proposal from state Sen. Joe Conti, R-Doylestown, to remove the sales tax exemption on certain items and use the money to lower Penn State's tuition, but he did not think the government would pass it.

When a student asked about expanding scholarships at Commonwealth Campuses, Spanier said the scholarships were not necessary to attract new students at campuses like Penn State Berks because enrollment was already so high.

"At some of our campuses, we're basically full," he said.