When the Isenberg School of Management broke ground in early August to begin construction on a brand new 70,000-square-foot expansion, the University of Massachusetts gave the project a $62-million spending cap. Seeking to improve its funding externally, the business school plans to raise $38 million through private funding.

The three-story addition is expected to be finished in early 2019, and hopefully help with issues of congestion in the business school. Since the school’s latest renovations in 2002, it has almost doubled in size, growing from 2,000 to 3,500 students in 2015.

Thomas Moliterno, associate dean of faculty and engagement, sees this expansion as an opportunity to bring Isenberg into the upper echelon of business schools.

“The main point is to attract the best business students in Massachusetts we need to have facilities that facilitate top-tier educational and career preparation opportunities,” Moliterno said.

Moliterno said that each of the three floors will have different facilities that are designed to enhance Isenberg’s prestige and bring it into the modern business world.

On the first floor, there will be a 5,000-square-foot atrium, with state-of-the-art classrooms and a brand new café.

Moving up to the second floor is where students will go for career and professional services, equipped with a 20-room interview suite and a large undergraduate advising office.

Lastly, on the third floor, all of Isenberg’s faculty will be present under one roof.

Currently, Isenberg has nine of the $38 million needed to complete the project and hopes to get the rest through philanthropy and online programming. Now that the concrete has been poured, Moliterno sees it as an opportunity to bring individuals to the construction site and show them the design plans in the hopes of receiving a large donation. The largest of donations will allow the names of the donor to be on classrooms and labs, with the largest donation securing the naming rights of the entire addition.

Already ranked the 10th best public business school in the country and number one in the North East region by Businessweek, Moliterno sees this as a real effort by UMass as a whole to make world-class facilities an example of the University’s commitment to attracting world-class students.

“Students who apply to Isenberg are now comparing us to some of the very best business schools in the country,” Moliterno said.

Moliterno believes this expansion will ensure Isenberg’s ability to help its alumni land promising and fulfilling careers.

“We need to ensure that our facilities enable us to provide for these students the education and career preparation that they are seeking,” he said.

Thomas Hannigan can be reached at [email protected].