Study: CSU contributes $465.2M in tax revenue in state

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State University, its students and alumni contributed $465.2 million in tax revenue to the state in 2015, helped create 19,000 jobs and spawned dozens of companies.

That’s according to The Economic and Fiscal Impact Study: Colorado State University, one of two new studies released Tuesday. The studies were conducted by lead author Rebecca Hill, an agricultural and resource economist in CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences, and co-authors Harvey Cutler and Martin Shields, both professors and economists in CSU’s College of Liberal Arts.

“Simply put, CSU is one of the state’s most important economic growth engines and a cornerstone of Colorado’s economic future,” the authors stated in the report.

SPONSORED CONTENT

How dispatchable resources enable the clean energy transition

Platte River must prepare for the retirement of 431 megawatts (MW) of dispatchable, coal-fired generation by the end of the decade and address more frequent extreme weather events that can bring dark calms (periods when there is no sun or wind).

“This in-depth study by Drs. Hill, Cutler and Shields reinforces that Colorado State University, as a major research university, is a key driver of Colorado’s economy, with a statewide impact,” Tony Frank, president of Colorado State University in Fort Collins and chancellor of the CSU System, said in a prepared statement. “CSU — and higher education overall — is a smart investment for the state, and we’re proud to return significant value to Colorado taxpayers.”

The study looked at three key areas of impact, including higher wages earned by CSU alumni because of their degrees; operational and student spending in the Fort Collins and state economies; and research and innovation at CSU, which strengthens a wide range of Colorado businesses and industries.

“One of the most striking findings was the pervasive impact of the University and its alumni across the state,” Cutler said. “By building a model specifically for the state, we are able to see how CSU not only affects people in Fort Collins, but also contributes to the economy in essentially every Colorado community.”

Among the study’s findings:

• CSU generates an estimated 16,865 direct and indirect jobs in the Fort Collins area.

• The university supports around 19,000 jobs annually in Colorado through spending by CSU and students who come from out of state and the increased business productivity that results from CSU’s research and engagement efforts.

• Business spinoffs and increases in regional productivity stemming from CSU translate into an additional 352 private-sector jobs and $13.5 million in household income to the Fort Collins area economy.

• CSU students not originally from Fort Collins spend $270.4 million dollars a year in the community, and this spending alone supports 2,500 jobs in the Fort Collins area.

The study also found that CSU is one of Colorado’s leading sources of innovation in a broad range of industry sectors, including agriculture, engineering, biophysics, veterinary medicine, chemistry, atmospheric sciences, and business.

That success is driven in part by more than $300 million in annual research expenditures at CSU, helping to generate startup businesses, licensing agreements and $34 million in additional state tax revenues.

Research activities generated the equivalent of 10,425 jobs and $676 million in annual household income; 49 new patents in 2015, and 200 licensing agreements over the past five years; and 30 new startups in the past five years directly connected to CSU.

The second study, “Economic Contribution of Colorado State University Construction Projects, identified almost $560 million in expenditures from CSU’s recent construction projects. The analysis focused on spending related to six multiyear construction projects at CSU: the chemistry research building, CSU Health and Medical Center, parking garages, Aggie Village, biology building, and the on-campus stadium.

The six projects are among $1.4 billion in renovations and new construction that has transformed CSU’s Fort Collins campus since 2010.