ACE Releases Powerful New Resource Demonstrating How Higher Education Drives Economic Growth

​An interactive economic impact tool unveiled today by ACE demonstrates the many ways colleges and universities fuel economic growth across the United States.

During an event at Howard University, ACE experts were joined by other higher education leaders and policymakers to launch the Council's Higher Education Economic Indicators Tool, a comprehensive database highlighting the economic value of postsecondary institutions across local, state, regional, and national economies.

"ACE's Higher Education Economic Indicators Tool demonstrates in concrete terms the value of American higher education and how important our institutions are as drivers of economic prosperity," said ACE President Ted Mitchell. "Institutions focus every day on investing in their students and working to spur student success and opportunity. And in the process, they also serve as thriving economic enterprises, generating jobs and revenue for local, state, and regional economies."

The Higher Education Economic Indicators Tool can be used to learn, for instance, more about research spending and how those expenditures drive economic growth, attract and grow industry, and help to develop a skilled workforce. The database also includes categories such as individual median earnings across educational attainment, amount of student aid and scholarship grants awarded, and colleges and universities as large employers, supporting and sustaining local and regional workforces.

For example, based on the institutions included in the tool's database, colleges and universities in California (613 institutions) employ over 380,000 people. Texas colleges and universities (387 institutions) generate over $6 billion in research revenue. Also, among colleges and universities in New Hampshire (32 institutions), total student grant and scholarship aid awarded exceeds $900 million. The current data reflects phase one of the Tool's development. The data may change as the tool grows and evolves.

For more information and to check out the Higher Education Economic Indicators Tool, click here.

"There are colleges and universities located in every corner of our nation-large and small, rural and urban, and with a broad variety of missions," said Jon Fansmith, ACE Senior Vice President of Government Relations and National Engagement. "One of the things they have in common is that individually and collectively they play a central role in strengthening the overall national economy and driving growth and prosperity in their communities and regions."