How much do communities throughout the state benefit economically from spending that is either directly or indirectly related to the 24 colleges of the Technical College System of Georgia?

According to Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, it adds up to almost 1.2 billion dollars.

The economic impact is in a new report from Dr. Humphreys that details his analysis of the system’s economic data for the 2012 fiscal year.

His study also found that the technical colleges’ spending results in 15,000 public and private sector jobs. Humphreys reported that for each job created on a TCSG college campus, one off-campus job exists because of college-related expenditures. One in every 264 non-farm jobs in Georgia, he said, occurs because of spending associated with a TCSG college.

"The fundamental finding is that each of the TCSG colleges creates substantial economic impacts in terms of output, value added, labor income, and employment. These economic impacts demonstrate that continued emphasis on technical colleges as an enduring pillar of the regional economy translates into jobs, higher incomes, and greater production of goods and services for local households and businesses,” said Humphreys.

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 result, put in the context of the taxpayer investment, indicated that the $315 million state appropriation for the TCSG in 2012 supported the enrollment of almost 153,000 technical college students, generated $1.2 billion in local spending, and helped to sustain almost 15,000 public and private sector jobs.

“The spending factor alone is a sizable return on the state’s investment in the TCSG, and it would be significantly higher if we were to add the economic value that our graduates create once they leave college and meet employers’ needs for a skilled workforce,” said Ron Jackson, commissioner of the TCSG.

In Southwest Georgia, Albany Technical College’s share is a little over $47 million of the economic impact. Add to that Albany Tech’s unduplicated graduates in the ninetieth percentile in the system and their high graduation and placement rates, and the overall impact is significant both region and statewide.

Albany Tech President, Dr. Anthony O. Parker, attributes the college’s success to its methodologies. “We start with the end in mind,” said Parker. “With our on-campus Career Development Center, we have our students begin building portfolios from the very beginning to demonstrate to potential employers the hands-on experience they receive at Albany Tech that makes them more prepared for the workforce.”