Briefing paper

The University of Alaska contracted with the McDowell Group, a research based consulting firm, to quantify the university’s economic impact on the state’s economy. This study updates similar studies in 1998 and 2004. McDowell notes, “Nearly every sector of the Alaska economy either directly or indirectly benefits from UA activities.” Other highlights:

• The university has an economic footprint of over $1 billion annually, including the annual operating budget in FY07 ($652 million), student and UA visitor spending ($150 million) and spin-off spending in the private/support sector ($290 million).

• In FY07 the state’s investment of $282.5 million generated $862 million in direct and indirect economic activity in Alaska.
• For every dollar of state investment, the university created just over $3 in economic activity—a total return on investment of 200 percent.
• McDowell noted a 2007 study by ISER showing the economic impact from UA research is even more dramatic---every dollar of state investment leverages $7.60 in total research funding. This compares to $5.50 nationally, which means that UA is more successful than most universities in attracting out-of-state research money. (Note: The lion’s share of UA’s current research funding, approx. 85-90 percent, from federal agencies like NSF, NIH, etc. is via the competitive grant process, not “earmarks.”)
• In total, more than 15,100 jobs are directly (8,000) and indirectly (7,100) linked to UA. UA payroll alone at its peak in 2006 was $260 million.
• If UA were private, it would top the list of Alaska’s largest employers by a wide margin. Including public and private employers, UA ranks fourth behind military, federal workers and state workers.
• In FY07, UA purchased more than $118 million in goods and services from 1,200 Alaska businesses and organizations in more than 70 communities. Hundreds of other businesses benefit from the multiplier effect, while student spending is estimated at $147 million. UA visitor spending is estimated at $5 million annually.
• A collaborative database between UA and the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which contains information for more than 47,000 graduates between 1989-2006, shows two-thirds of graduates from that time period living in Alaska, including 26,000 in jobs tracked by ADOL. ADOL doesn’t track federal government and self-employed workers.
• In 2006, there were an estimated 33,680 UA graduates from the tracked database in the current Alaska workforce, 11 percent of the statewide total, with an annual payroll of $1.41 billion. However, this is not the total picture due to the limited nature of the database.
• Attending UA increased the earning power of graduates in the database by approximately $470 million in 2006 alone. It must be emphasized that this increased earning power only reflects the 2006 earnings for those in the database.  Graduates as far back as 1960 are still in Alaska’s workforce—earning substantially higher incomes near the end of their working years.

For a complete look at the McDowell report, go to
 http://www.alaska.edu/opa/downloads/McDowell-2008-EconomicImpact.pdf

Click here for a pdf of this document.

For Information Contact:
Pete Kelly, Director, State Relations
450-8006/465-2382