By Dr. J.D. Rottweiler

As president of Cochise College, I am part of the Arizona Community College Coordinating Council (ACCCC), which is a leadership consortium of the state’s 10 community college districts. Because they provide services to a wide audience and maintain close ties with the communities and industries they serve, community colleges are often recognized as economic drivers. We see signs of success every day in our students and alumni, but the big picture is emerging with the first statewide economic impact study of Arizona’s community colleges.

“Demonstrating the Value of Arizona’s Community Colleges,” recently published by Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc.,* monetizes the financial and societal impact of community colleges in Arizona. It includes the statistics that Arizona’s community colleges annually:

  • serve 375,000 students,
  • award 40,000-plus degrees and certificates,
  • transfer 10,000-plus students to Arizona’s public universities and an even greater number to private institutions, and
  • employ more than 10,000 full- and part-time faculty and staff.

But the study isn’t so much about the number of people served or employed as it is about the impact of those individuals and their experiences on the state economy. Based on fiscal year 2013-2014, the study discloses that impact as follows:

  • $1.2 billion in direct payroll and operations spending,
  • $300 million spent and contributed by out-of-state students,
  • $13 billion in higher earnings and lower need for the state’s social services, and
  • 6 percent of the gross state product, putting colleges on par with the aerospace and defense industry and closing in on manufacturing.

Finally, there is the personal and societal impact when residents invest in a community college education and earn an associate degree.

  • Income increases an average of $10,000 annually, or more than $400,000 over the student’s career, nearly a 1:5 return on investment, and an annual rate of return of 19 percent.
  • The cumulative return on investment for taxpayers, who realize increased business output earnings and reduced demand for government services, is $3.60 for every tax dollar invested.
  • The return for society is 11:1 for the FY14 students who remain employed over their lifetime.

Just as community colleges find themselves in the national spotlight, it’s clear they are a worthy investment. You can find the economic impact study and information about all of Arizona’s community colleges at www.arizonacommunitycolleges.org.

J.D. Rottweiler is president of Cochise College. Contact him at jdr@cochise.edu.

*EMSi uses a very conservative modeling philosophy which shows the net impact of the community colleges in the district/region. With more than 1,200 studies conducted since 2001, EMSi is one of the leading economic modeling firms in the country.