City College Generated $2 Billion for New York's Economy in 2017

The following article was featured in the March 2020 edition of The Campus.

By Joseph Russo

The City College of New York has just been reviewed by Emsi, a labor market analytics firm that compiles data to analyze public institutions’ impact on students, taxpayers, and society as a whole. In their review of City College, they discovered something truly mind-blowing: in 2017, 1.9 billion dollars were added to New York’s economy solely thanks to The City College of New York.

They broke down the $1.9 billion into six distinctive categories, the first being the “Operations Spending Impact,” which includes the staff's payroll. This statistic is meant to represent how much money full-time and part-time staff earned collectively. That number also includes how the staff spends that money in their communities, such as by dining out, buying groceries, going to sporting events, and many other money-spending activities. With 2,518 full-time and part-time faculty, City College added 288.3 million dollars to the region’s economy.

The “Research Spending Impact” generated about $31.9 million for the local economy and included the payroll that supports scientific research, and even the necessary equipment needed to assist postgraduate research efforts.

Even though the campus was seemingly under construction, which strained students and forced them to reroute their commute to classes, it generated revenue for New York’s economy as well. The “Construction Spending Impact” generated approximately $18.3 million for construction companies and their workers.

Whether it is gasoline, groceries, transportation, or other household expenses, relocated students and retained students -- those that live within the five boroughs of New York City -- added $50.9 million into the commercial areas located outside of the main campus. Their families, visitors, and other individuals generated $57.4 million on lodging, food, and other personal expenses due to City College-related activities. The activities include traveling to athletic events and attending student graduation ceremonies.

The biggest chunk of the revenue comes from the amount of money that is generated by City College’s many graduated alumni. Most City College graduates are full-time employees in the healthcare and technical service fields, so it is no surprise that graduates generated a total of $1.5 billion for their New York-based companies.

What does all this data mean for current City College students? According to their calculations, the benefit-to-cost ratio is 6.7, which means that every $1.00 invested by a City College student will translate into a cumulative average of $6.70 over their careers.

The report even discusses the benefits to taxpayers as well. Since City College students are poised to earn lots of money, their investment results in a greater tax gain for state and local governments. This situation means that students will increase the frequency of purchases made in the local economies and are less likely to be involved with receiving unemployment benefits or welfare, as well as interacting with the criminal justice system. All three reasons reduce stress on taxpayers. Emsi states that an average taxpayer will receive $3.00 back for every $1.00 invested into the school.

Our society, specifically New York City, benefits from the school in many ways. Primarily, City College students collectively impact the state’s economy. Since students that graduate here increase business output and earn more money than other school’s alumni, the school raises economic prosperity in New York.

Emsi determined that The City College of New York is a great investment for everyone involved. Students, taxpayers, and our society can all feel the impact that the school has had over the region.

The results of the City College study highlight the values of the college from a multitude of different perspectives. City College allows students to build a healthy network amongst colleagues and professionals, which generates more tax revenue acquired from graduates’ high-income rates and reduces the need for government services. This system creates a beautiful economy that generates tax revenue and saves taxpayer dollars on a large scale.