Many colleges have put off repairs and renovation since the recession. Now crumbling buildings, limited budgets, and mounting debt present an increasingly intractable problem. Sightlines, a consulting company that tracks and analyzes facilities issues at more than 300 colleges, shared some of its latest findings with "The Chronicle". The data indicate that the need for repairs and modernization has risen since the start of the 2008 recession, particularly at public institutions. At some institutions the backlog, which is not recorded on balance sheets, would rival or far exceed their net assets or liabilities. Many major universities can tally their maintenance needs in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Some state systems put it in the billions. With state money receding and philanthropy an unreliable source of relief, colleges increasingly face two unappealing options: charge students higher fees or borrow more money. For some institutions, the options are constrained even more by politics and public opinion.