The money comes through college spending ($1 billion), construction expenditures ($197 million), student spending ($112 million), visitor spending ($58 million) and staff spending ($678 million), the report says.
The report uses data from fiscal year 2014-2015. That year, the colleges employed 7,102 people, paid $373.7 million in salaries and benefits, and paid $12 million in income tax to the state of Vermont.
Additionally, the colleges have a total of 19,456 students and 37,000 alumni in Vermont. The schools say that enough people decide to relocate to Vermont that they create a “brain gain” of 2,800 students per year.
“Students from across the state, nation and world choose to study at Vermont’s private colleges,” the report says. “As alumni, they include the next generation of entrepreneurs, coders, artists, teachers, nurses, scientists and business executives, as well as government and community leaders. The result is a surge of workforce engagement.”
Ken Jones, an economic research analyst for the state, said in a news release: “Beyond those numbers, Vermont’s ability to attract out-of-state students introduces thousands of families to our state as visitors and often long-term residents. The state should find ways to strengthen our colleges and capitalize on that important marketing advantage.”
Susan Stitely, the president of the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges, said that because 80 percent of students at the 18 colleges come from other states, “this translates to about 15,500 young people and helps create a talent pool for employers.”
By comparison, the University of Vermont, the state’s major research university, employed 4,421 people, according to its economic impact report, and has a $1.3 billion impact on Vermont’s economy.
