The Technical College System of Georgia contributes more than $1.2 billion in output and creates about 15,000 jobs, according to a new report from the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the Terry College of Business.
The report outlines the economic impact that each of the 25 technical colleges in the system affected its local economy during the 2012 fiscal year.
“The fundamental finding is that each of the TCSG colleges creates substantial economic impacts in terms of output, value added, labor income and employment,” said Jeff Humphreys, author of the report and director of the Selig Center. “The findings show that continued emphasis on technical colleges will translates into jobs, higher incomes, and greater production of goods and services for local households and businesses.”
Humphreys found that, on average, for every one job at a technical college, one off-campus is created in the local economy. Put another way, the state’s technical colleges generate 14,977 jobs or 0.5 percent of all non-farm employment in Georgia.
The TCSG commissioned Humphreys to calculate the importance that spending connected to the state’s technical colleges has for their service delivery areas, which range in size from two to eleven counties. Several categories of college expenditures were reviewed for the study, including personnel salaries and fringe benefits, college operations, capital construction projects, and student spending, to name a few.
The TSSG received $315 million from the state in 2012, and supported the enrollment of almost 153,000 students.