SD Public Higher Education drives $2.1B of State’s Economy

Across six universities, South Dakota public higher education institutions generated a total impact on the state’s economy of more than two-point-one-billion dollars in Fiscal Year 2019, according to an economic contribution analysis released by the state Board of Regents this week.  The study further concludes that the economic activity of the public university system supported or sustained more than 12-thousand jobs throughout the state.

The study measured the economic contribution of South Dakota’s public higher education institutions under the direction and leadership of the Board of Regents. The study calculates the impact of operations, student spending, and visitor spending across six universities: Black Hills State University, Dakota State University, Northern State University, South Dakota Mines, South Dakota State University, and the University of South Dakota.

The study was conducted by Parker Philips, Incorporated, a consulting firm specializing in economic impact analysis. 

The report also found that the income being added into the economy as a result of graduates obtaining post-secondary education is significant. The six universities conferred more than 66-hundred bachelor, masters, doctoral, and professional degrees in 2019. The total number of alumni living and working in the state is more than 104-thousand.

A link to more information on this study can be found here.