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Meanwhile, education companies are growing, both organically and through acquisitions.

From the relatively small Chelsea School in Silver Spring to the state's largest private employer, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the expansions paint a contrasting picture to the one of many companies hunkering down and cutting workforces and space.

They also contrast to some private schools losing enrollment and even shutting down, as was the case with The Newport School. The Silver Spring private school, which opened in 1930, closed this year because of dwindling enrollment and funds.

Education and health care — which many institutions offer degrees in — have added jobs this year in Maryland, as other areas such as finance and construction shed employees, according to U.S. Department of Labor figures.

Furthermore, the trend toward more adult learners, which is helping fuel growth in the education industry, is likely to continue, according to Eduventures, an education consulting company in Boston.

The number of U.S. students aged 22 to 29 — most of whom are taking classes to further their careers — is expected to rise 20 percent to almost 7 million in 2016; those older than 30 could top 5 million by then — a 14 percent increase, according to Eduventures.

Capital campaigns

pulling in millions

While some schools are having a harder time attracting key donors to fund capital improvements, many private colleges and schools are still doing fine, aided by key connections to the well-heeled.

Loyola College in Maryland, a Jesuit Catholic university in Baltimore, enjoyed a record-setting fundraising year for its fiscal 2008, which ended in May. Gifts totaled $10.1 million, the highest single-year total in college history.

The university's six-year capital campaign, which ended in May, hit $93.3 million, well above the $80 million goal. Those capital funds will go to expansions such as a two-year, $19.6 million renovation on the Loyola Notre Dame Library that was recently completed.

Chelsea, a college preparatory school for students in grades 5 through 12 with language-based learning disabilities, launched in June its own four-year, $12 million capital campaign for an expansion. Leaders also hope to raise an additional $8 million for a staff development endowment, student scholarships and technology upgrades.

Having someone as recognized as Daniel Libeskind, a renowned architect whose projects include the new one at the former World Trade Center site in New York, as one of the lead donors and the design adviser to the school's Board of Governors for the addition, is huge, said Anthony Messina, head of Chelsea School.

"His involvement has opened some doors," Messina said.

The tighter economy has made some potential donors a little more cautious, although it is early in the capital campaign, he said.

"We are searching for new and creative ways to reach out to the community," Messina said. "We believe this project will result in a world-class school that will be a symbol of hope to individuals with learning disabilities. We plan to affect thousands of kids' lives in the next 30 years."

The school has developed a Web site and color brochure, and plans events such as the black-tie fundraiser Sept. 18 at the Decatur House in Washington. Libeskind is slated to be the keynote speaker for that fundraiser, which also plans to include the launch of a new film on the school.

While construction is at least four years out, the design by architect Robert Claiborne, a protégé of Libeskind, shows a two-story school library, new science, technology and fine arts centers, a renovated gymnasium and an underground parking lot. Plans call for not just expanding the teaching staff and workforce at the 40-employee school, but creating more opportunities for local entrepreneurs, with the present administrative building converted into an incubator for fledgling companies and visiting researchers who work in the language-based learning disabilities field, Messina said.

Curriculum will include instruction in biotechnology and computer programming, particularly related to gaming. Replicating the school across the nation is also under discussion, he said.

Chelsea should have about 80 students this fall and hopes to add 10 more or so by the end of the school year, Messina said. Almost every student is publicly funded.

"They are very capable students who work hard," Messina said. "Last year, 87 percent of our graduating students went to college."

Among the other private schools planning expansions is Friends Meeting School in Ijamsville, which is slated to break ground by January on a $3.2 million, 21,000-square-foot expansion that will include a new performing arts center, gymnasium and classrooms, said Annette Breiling, head of the school.

"Enrollment is about the same as last year," Breiling said. "This will give us the possibility of adding a high school later, although we don't yet have the official approval to do that."

More growth

through acquisition

Laureate Education, a Baltimore education company that focuses on higher education, is growing through acquisitions. Laureate recently bought the NewSchool of Architecture and Design in San Diego and Kendall College, a Chicago culinary and hospitality institution. Those are the company's first U.S. campuses.

Laureate has more than 37 campus-based and online universities offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in fields such as engineering, business, health care and information technology to more than 400,000 students worldwide. Last year, Laureate was acquired itself by a private investor group led by Douglas L. Becker, Laureate's chairman and CEO, that includes Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The transaction was valued at $3.8 billion.

Laureate was previously a public company, with its profit up 23 percent during the first half of 2007 to $47.7 million from the same period in 2006.

More university

expansion plans

Johns Hopkins University, the state's largest private employer with more than 24,000 employees, according to a state survey last year, seemingly is in continuous expansion mode.

Besides numerous projects at its Baltimore campus, the university plans to beef up its 215,000-square-foot Rockville campus to more than 900,000 square feet over the next decade.

The campus, in the Shady Grove area of Rockville, opened in 1988 with almost 900 graduate students in public health and engineering. It now has more than 4,000 students in degree and certificate programs that include business, education and the arts and sciences.

Public money is often interwoven in projects at private institutions. For a $24 million renovation of the performing arts center at Washington College, a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, the state of Maryland is kicking in a $3 million grant. The project is expected to be completed next year.

Public institutions are also expanding, and many raise at least some private funds through capital campaigns. Montgomery College, which has a foundation that is in the midst of a two-year campaign to raise $25 million in private funds, plans to open a 32,000-square-foot, $6.7 million technology and business incubator at its Germantown campus this fall.

The center is the first phase of a larger project that includes a 127,000-square-foot Bioscience Education Center and 40-acre Science and Technology Business Park. The park is being privately developed by Foulger-Pratt Development of Rockville, although some infrastructure will be publicly funded.

The University of Maryland also has numerous projects in place at its campuses, including the planned redevelopment of the East Campus at College Park.