Institutional impact: economic studies a popular tool.

DURING CONVERSATIONS WITH LOCAL OFFICIALS, LEGISLATORS, INDUSTRY leaders, and donors, it never hurts to have proof of how your institution being there enriches the broader community. A growing number of institutions of higher ed are commissioning economic impact research studies so that they can have that kind of data at their fingertips.

"It helps build the town/gown relationship," notes Charles Haywood, a retired professor of economics and finance who spent 35 years at the University of Kentucky as a teacher and administrator. He has conducted a number of these studies for IHEs, most recently Eastern Kentucky University, and for corporations.

"In doing these studies, you go around and talk with the mayor, the county judge--various people who can give you observations about some of the nonquantitative things" indicating the university's impact, Haywood says. When an impact study is released, it can garner favorable press attention and be shared with state leaders as part of an argument for greater budget allocations. For that reason, more public institutions may especially favor these studies, but private IHEs have also embarked on impact research, Haywood says. Studies can be done in as little as three months and for about $10,000 to $20,000, he estimates.

Partnering with area schools is one way to make the research more economical. "It will also give you some consistency of data if you want to compare institutions," notes Michael A. Gerber, president of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education, which released an impact study in 2006 encompassing 49 Atlanta region IHEs. That study was funded by three foundations and 19-member ARCHE. For maximum readability, he says, the ARCHE study authors "made a conscious effort to tie these numbers back to real people how individual companies benefit from the presence of these institutions."

MAKING THE IMPACT CASE

Institution/Group
(Study Date)                   Study Highlights

Allegheny College              Allegheny contributed an estimated
(Pa.) (2007)                   economic impact of $92 million
                               to the Crawford County economy
                               in 2004-95; one in 49 jobs in the
                               county is held by an Allegheny
                               graduate

Atlanta Regional Council for   Atlanta region IHEs create a $10.8
Higher Education (2006)        billion total economic impact and
                               130,000 jobs in Georgia

California State U,            In FY 2003-04, CSULB generated
Long Beach (2005)              $1.034 billion impact in Southern
                               California; it's the city's third
                               largest employer

College of William and Mary    William and Mary contributed more
(Va.) (2006)                   than $343 million to the local
                               economy, $491 million regionally,
                               and $539 statewide in FY 2005;
                               visitors to the school spend more
                               than $19 million in the local area
                               annually

Eastern Kentucky U             During FY 2005. $518.5 million
(2006)                         direct and indirect spending is
                               attributable to EKU; in its
                               21-county service area, total
                               attributable spending is $451.8
                               million

George Mason U                 GMU's total economic impact to
(Va.) (2005)                   Virginia in fiscal year 2005 was
                               $1.6 billion; if a proposed 2004-
                               08 construction program occurs as
                               planned, it will generate $430.5
                               million total economic value to
                               the Northern Va. economy

Greater State Street           IHEs in Chicago's downtown loop
Council/Central Michigan       spend more than $345 million on
Avenue Association (2005)      goods/services annually, generating
                               $777 million in direct and indirect
                               economic impact activity

Southwestern U                 Southwestern had an estimated $94
(Texas) (2005-06)              million impact on the George-
                               town-Williamson County area in
                               2005-06, an increase of more than
                               $3 million from the prior year

Westchester County             11 IHEs in the county have a total
(N.Y.) Association (2005)      economic impact of close to 5712
                               million there

Western Connecticut State U    Western's expenditures in the prior
(2005-06)                      year produced a regional output
                               of $213.6 million in goods and
                               services; total income generated
                               was $71.6 million