Main Content Section
MS Community College Presidents Hold Press Conference at State Capitol
Nine months ago, the 15 presidents in the Mississippi Community College system commissioned an economic impact study that would evaluate the support of its mission. With the recent completion of the study, the presidents now have that information to utilize for more strategic planning and decision-making.
The report prepared by the National Strategic Planning and Research Center (NSPARC) at Mississippi State University had three primary objectives: (1) examine who is served by the statewide network of community colleges, (2) determine education and labor market-related outcomes of those served, and (3) estimate the overall economic impact of community colleges on the state of Mississippi. To estimate the overall impact of the community college system on the state’s economy, a well-established input/output model created by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) was employed.
The results of this study show that community colleges and the students they serve have a multi-billion dollar impact on Mississippi’s economy, generating an estimated $2.1 billion in wages and salaries in the state. This results in over a quarter billion dollars in state and local tax revenue and nearly four billion in state Gross Domestic Product. The statewide community college network serves the entire state, prepares students for success and supports communities across the state.
“Understanding the value of public higher education and workforce training has historically been challenging, until now,” said Dr. Jesse Smith, Jones College President and Legislative Committee Chair, MACJC. “We intend to show legislators, county officials and the citizens of Mississippi how crucial community colleges are for the successful future of the State of Mississippi. Specifically, we can make a reasonable assumption on the return on investment to the State of Mississippi and the potential for increased earnings for the student who earns a community college degree or workforce credential.”
“The impact report demonstrates the importance of Mississippi’s community college system as one of the largest employers in Mississippi,” said Dr. Andrea Mayfield, Mississippi Community College Board Executive Director. “Not only does the system employ an army of qualified people which in itself raises tax revenues, the system serves as a robust producer of highly skilled financially independent taxpayers.”
“A highly skilled workforce is critical to company productivity, generating tax revenues and improving the quality of life in Mississippi,” she noted. “Producing and maintaining a highly skilled workforce is Mississippi’s workforce currency. This currency has value. Using real-time and connected data provides Mississippi decision-makers with the information needed to invest wisely to yield a high return. I am optimistic that key individuals making decisions will utilize reports like this to make good decisions regarding policy and the investment of state dollars.”
Smith stated that many factors played a part in commissioning the impact study. “The growing negative national rhetoric that American public universities and colleges have not educated graduates prepared for the market place is disturbing. Also, the significant growth of student loan debt taken by students to pay for earning baccalaureate degrees along with the growing number of unfilled jobs required a rational response from the association. We did not want to see the Mississippi Community College System caught in the typical reaction of state governments to decrease the support of public higher education. On the contrary, the association took the task of highlighting how valuable investing in Mississippi Community Colleges is to the State of Mississippi, the graduates of the community colleges and the state's economy.”
“Mississippi community college presidents use data to make critical decisions at their respective institutions every day,” Mayfield said. “A system-level study to examine the economic impact to Mississippi provides the information needed by state government to make good investment decisions. Community colleges must receive more dollars from the state to secure the resources needed to maximize productivity. Maximizing productivity produces more work opportunities, increased spending capacity and higher tax revenue collections.”
Smith said that he was pleased with how extensive the report was in all areas relating to the system, its students and graduates. “We were surprised to learn that 75 percent of community college graduates remain in Mississippi upon graduating,” he said. “This percentage is higher than that of high school dropouts, high school graduates and even university graduates.”
“Also, we were glad to know that community college graduates who transfer to the university system are 1.5 times more likely to graduate than students who enter the university system as freshmen,” Smith added. “We know that we cannot take full credit for that, given the fact that our public university partners have partnered with the community college system to make the transition from community college to the university system affordable and accessible.”
Mayfield also was pleased to see the figures supporting the community college system’s message. “While I have always known the community college system is one of the largest employers and producers of Mississippi’s workforce, the study was able to demonstrate the rate of return and the economic impact in dollars,” she said. “The community college system in Mississippi is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs faculty and staff to work with people to produce Mississippi’s workforce. The community colleges do not receive state appropriated dollars to conduct non-credit workforce training for business and industry employees, yet the report clearly illustrates the value of such training to the individual, the company and our state. This report clearly assigns a monetary value to the outputs produced by the community college and the financial impact to the state.”
All 82 counties of the state are covered by the community college network of 15 main campuses and 500 total locations. Ninety-six percent of all students served by community colleges are Mississippi residents. Each year, an average of 100,000 students are served through academic credential and degree programs. The top five programs of study, based on the number of degrees awarded annually, include liberal arts and sciences (5,993); health professions, i.e., registered nurses, licensed nurse practitioners and other technicians (4,823); business, management, and marketing (2,722); advanced manufacturing, i.e., engineering technologies (2,505); and mechanic and repair technologies (1,263).
Additionally, another 100,000 are served through non-credit workforce training. More than 274,000 participate in unique training events throughout the year. Of these, 80,000 took part in substantive training areas dealing with medical/healthcare, banking, Smart Start skills, industrial production and welding/soldering.
Four out of five students who complete non-credit workforce training courses live and work in Mississippi after training. These students experience an average increase in earnings of more than $2,390 after completing training, raising their average annual salary to $42,922.
Moreover, the training and education provided by Mississippi’s community colleges prepare many of these graduates to enter “in demand” jobs. Community college students who transfer to public universities are almost 1.5 times more likely to graduate than their counterparts who enroll as first-time, full-time freshmen.
Three out of four students who graduate from a community college live and work in Mississippi after graduation. These workers earn average annual salaries of $27,542 within one year of graduating, $31,550 after three years, and $35,824 after five years, which is double the earnings of the average non-college-bound Mississippi high school graduate.
The relatively high workforce participation rate of Mississippi community college graduates ensures that the majority of the benefits generated by these graduates stays in the state. Each year, an average of 8,876 graduates find jobs in Mississippi and support an additional 6,421 indirect jobs. The economic activity created by these 15,297 total jobs generates an estimated $509 million in wages and salaries. This results in an estimated $1.2 billion contributed to Mississippi’s annual GDP and $73 million in state and local tax revenue.
Each year, community colleges spend more than $600 million on operational expenditures and wages/salaries for more than 8,100 employees; community college students spend close to $650 million. These direct jobs support an additional 16,200 jobs in the state. This leads to a jobs multiplier of 3.0. These 24,300 total jobs generate more than $980 million in income and $128 million in state and local tax revenue and contribute $1.9 billion to the state’s GDP.
Community colleges directly employ more than 8,100 people statewide and are typically among the top-five employers in their regions. Community colleges and their students invest more than $1 billion in their local economies every year. This investment leads to a jobs multiplier of 3.0, meaning that one community college job creates an additional two jobs in the state.
Other interesting facts:
- Each year, 5,365 former community college students complete a four-year degree, create an additional 3,870 additional jobs, generate an additional $334 million in wages and salaries, $47 million in state and local tax revenue and contribute $690 million to the state’s GDP.
- Students enrolled at one of Mississippi’s 15 community colleges spend more than $335 million on goods and services and over $310 million in off campus living expenses annually in the state of Mississippi.
- More than two-thirds of college-bound Mississippi public high school graduates enroll in a Mississippi community college within one year of graduating from high school.
- Mississippi community college students transferring to public universities are almost 1.5 times more likely to graduate than their counterparts who enroll as first-time freshmen.
- Within five years of graduation, the average annual wage of students earning an Associate of Applied Science degree at a Mississippi Community College ($39,420) is on par with their counterparts completing a bachelor’s degree at a Mississippi public university ($41,563).