The last economic impact study about the University of Minnesota was completed in 2017, which found the overall economic impact of the University to be $8.7 billion.
The study details the total jobs and dollars generated by the University’s research and involvement in the community and greater Minnesota. This data has been crucial for the University in the last seven years to help people understand the influence of the University on the state economy, but it may be outdated.
Jennifer Goodnough, the chair of the Faculty Consultative Committee, said the University needs another study like this.
“What I have seen of the use of the (data), I think that is something that communicates the value and represents the economic engine that the University is, and it makes me feel like I can quantify that I’m doing good,” Goodnough said.
The previous study looked specifically at the outcomes of the 2017 financial year. Goodnough said the data may be outdated given the changes in higher education over the past seven years.
“I think if I was a betting person, I would best bet that our impact has gone up, not down in that,” Goodnough said. “If my intuition is correct then we really want to do this.”
There have been several changes to the University since 2017, including increases in tuition and admissions that could influence economic impact.
In-state tuition for full-time students increased to roughly $18,000 for the 2024-25 academic year after from $12,800 in 2017-18. Admissions increased from 51,848 to 54,890 in that span.
“I want to emphasize that, as faculty, as staff, as students, as alumni, we believe in the University of Minnesota,” Goodnough said. “We believe we’re doing good work and I think it’s nice whenever we can see a number that sort of pairs with that feeling that’s a little more qualitative.”
The Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Minnesota-Duluth Monica Haynes conducted an economic impact study for Duluth in 2022.
“The study is meant to provide an estimate of the typical year of operations of the University,” Haynes said. “What economic impact or contribution does the University provide to the region?”
Duluth conducts economic impact studies biannually, Haynes said. She said it helps to more accurately describe the financial influence the University has on the community.
Haynes said the point of the study is to show that the University has a major effect on the operations of its facilities and staff.
“Students who can live here during their academic years, all of the visitors that they bring to the region, all of that has an additional impact and then you know the capital,” Haynes said. “I think just showing off that multifaceted impact that is not just one thing that someone might think of when they think of (the) university.”
Economic impact studies help display quantitative data clearly about the University. Goodnough said the study recognizes the important work students and faculty do in the community.
“It’s probably implicit, and maybe we should say it more explicitly, it’s part of our Land Grant Mission, that we should be having a very large impact on the state and someone should be checking that,” Goodnough said.