Report: Grove City College is major economic driver

Report: Grove City College is major economic driver

Grove City College contributed nearly $140 million to the Keystone State’s economy in 2014, according to a new report on the economic impact of private colleges and universities.

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) this week reported that Grove City College and 95 other non-profit, degree-granting higher education institutions in Pennsylvania have a huge economic impact regionally and statewide. AICUP looked at payroll taxes, student spending, institutional expenditures, visitor spending, construction, money earned and spent by employees and indirect and induced impact.

Their analysis showed Grove City College has an overall economic impact of $138.5 million and is a major economic driver for the region, responsible for hundreds of jobs and millions in spending, payroll and taxes generated.

According to AICUP’s analysis, Grove City College:
    • Creates a $58.9 million impact through the purchase of goods and services, $12.8 million through construction and $26.7 million through employee payroll.
    • Directly employs 236 people and is responsible for an additional 542 jobs attributable to College-related economic activity.
    • Provides $1.28 million to state and local coffers through employee payroll taxes.
    • Supports state and local business through $3.9 million in direct student and visitor spending.
    • Has an indirect or induced economic impact of $36 million on the Commonwealth’s economy.

AICUP’s analysis, based on 2014 data, covered the impact of independent colleges and universities on the state and six distinct regions in Pennsylvania. In northwestern Pennsylvania, Grove City College and five other private schools produced nearly 3,000 jobs and had a total impact of $784 million, AICUP reported.

“Colleges and universities play an important role in the regional economy, creating jobs, partnerships and business opportunities for western Pennsylvanians,” Don Francis, AICUP president, said.

“Independent higher education continues to grow in importance as an industry, as an employer, and as an ignitor of prosperity in towns throughout Pennsylvania,” Francis said. “The independent higher education sector also continues to have enormous economic impact by developing human capital for the Commonwealth’s workforce.”

Statewide, private colleges produced an impact valued at $17.89 billion, AICUP found. Nearly 290,000 students attend independent colleges and universities in the state, accounting for 42 percent of all enrollments and 49 percent of degrees awarded in the commonwealth. The independent higher education sector is the largest of Pennsylvania’s four sectors of higher education.

AICUP is a statewide organization that serves the interests of private higher education and exists to complement and support the work of campus leaders.