Quincy College Economic Impact Study

The Economic Value of Quincy College

Quincy College creates a significant positive impact on the business community and generates a variety of benefits to its major stakeholder groups—students, taxpayers, and society. Using a two-pronged approach that involves an economic impact analysis and a benefits analysis, this study calculates the benefits to each of these groups. Results of the analysis reflect Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-15.

About the Study

Data and assumptions used in the study are based on several sources, including the FY 2014-15 academic and financial reports from the college, industry and employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, outputs of Emsi’s Social Accounting Matrix model, and a variety of studies and surveys relating education to social behavior. The study applies a conservative methodology and follows standard practice using only the most recognized indicators of investment effectiveness and economic impact. Download the EMSI Economic Impact Study: Outline of Methodology here.

Impact on Business Community

The overall impact of Quincy College on the local business community during the analysis year amounted to $419.7 million in added income, equal to the sum of the operations spending impact, the student spending impact, and the alumni impact. The $419.7 million in added income was equal to approximately 0.2% of the GRP of the Quincy College Service Area.

The total impact is also expressed in terms of the jobs supported by the added income; they are calculated by jobs-to-sales ratios specific to each industry. Overall, the $419.7 million impact supports 5,138 jobs. A portion of the $419.7 million is broken out in Table 2 into an industry-by-industry impact ordered by added income. Because industries have different jobs-to-sales ratios, the associated jobs supported by the Quincy College impact differ by industry. Nonetheless, these are impacts that would not have been generated without the college’s presence.

The economic impacts of Quincy College break down as follows:

Operations spending impact

Quincy College employed 482 full-time and part-time employees in FY 2014- 15. Payroll amounted to $21.5 million, much of which was spent in the Quincy
College Service Area to purchase groceries, clothing, and other household goods and services. The college spent another $8 million to support its day-to-day operations.
The net impact of college payroll and expenses in the Quincy College Service Area during the analysis year was approximately $25.9 million in added income.

Impact of student spending

Around 14% of students attending Quincy College originated from outside the region. Some of these students relocated to the Quincy College Service Area. In addition, a number of students would have left the region if not for Quincy College. These relocator and retained students spent money on groceries, transportation, rent, and so on at regional businesses.
The expenditures of relocator and retained students during the analysis year added approximately $10.5 million in added income to the Quincy College Service Area economy.

Alumni impact

Over the years, students have studied at Quincy College and entered or re-entered the workforce with newly-acquired skills. Today, thousands of these former students are employed in the Quincy College Service Area.
The accumulated contribution of former students currently employed in the regional workforce amounted to $383.4 million in added income during the analysis year.

Benefits to Students, Taxpayers, and Society

Students receive great value for their educational investment. At the same time, the presence of Quincy College in the state expands the economy and creates a wide range of positive social benefits that accrue to taxpayers and to society as a whole in Massachusetts.

Student perspective

Quincy College’s FY 2014-15 students paid a total of $24.5 million to cover the cost of tuition, fees, and supplies. They also forwent $71.8 million in money that they would have earned had they been working instead of learning.
In return for the monies invested in the college, students will receive a present value of $322.9 million in increased earnings over their working lives. This translates to a return of $3.40 in higher future earnings for every $1 that students invest in their education. The average annual return for students is 14.3%.

Taxpayer perspective

The present value of the added tax revenue stemming from the students’ higher lifetime earnings and the increased output of businesses amounts to $127.7 million in benefits to taxpayers.
Savings to the public sector add another $5.1 million in present value benefits due to a reduced demand for government-funded services in Massachusetts.

Social perspective

The economic base in Massachusetts will grow by $1.5 billion over the course of the students’ working lives. Society will also benefit from $16.7 million in present value social savings related to reduced crime, lower unemployment, and increased health and well-being across the state.
For every dollar that society spent on Quincy College educations during the analysis year, society will receive a cumulative value of $14.40 in benefits, for as long as the FY 2014-15 student population at Quincy College remains active in the state workforce.

About Emsi

Economic Modeling Specialists International, a CareerBuilder company, is a leading provider of economic impact studies and labor market data to educational institutions, workforce planners, and regional developers in the U.S. and internationally. Since 2000, Emsi has completed over 1,200 economic impact studies for educational institutions in four countries. Visit www.economicmodeling.com for more information about Emsi’s products and services.