2022 WSU Impact Report

Summary Highlight 

The 3,083 joint faculty and staff at both WSU and WSU Tech, along with their other operating expenses, support 5,293 jobs and $342 million in annual labor income within the Kansas economy. Both academic units purchase goods and services within the region and state. Those purchases include printing, food, and professional services, which spill over to firms. The direct spending on other operating expenditures in 2021 was $262 million, which created a total economic impact of $557.2 million.

The direct spending captured within the university budget does not capture all of the economic benefits. This study also includes student spending and tourism activity. Using the "but for " method, the students attending the university would not stay within the 10-county area but for WSU, as there is no comparable state research university locally. Therefore, this study includes all students spending during their tenure. Student spending was estimated to have a total impact of 4,555 jobs, $162 million in labor income, and over $603.7 million in output activity by purchasing retail goods, food, entertainment, and housing.

Tourism spending is also important to capture, as the visitors would not have spent the night, purchased Shocker memorabilia, or eaten at local restaurants if it had not been for the presence of the university. This study only included tourism activities from athletics, WSU Conference Management Services, WSU graduation, and WSU admission, which grossly underestimates the full scope of tourism activity. The economic contribution from the four tourism components captured within this study account for 230 jobs, $7.7 million in labor income, and $23.8 million in output. It is important to note that the economic contributions were lower than in the previous estimate due to the lingering ramifications of COVID-19.

Capital investments were included separately in the total contribution impact, as the funding tends to be one-time expenditures and varies dramatically by year. Capital investments include expenditures on lab equipment, software, vehicles, furniture, lawn equipment, new buildings, and renovations.

Construction-related projects support temporary jobs, as the projects have a limited duration. The purchase of major equipment tends to leak out of the region. For this reason, the accepted practice is to separate out capital investments from the total contribution impact. WSU, however, is consistently spending on capital investments. Excluding these expenditures entirely would overly discount the value it provides. All capital investments accounted for $90.5 million in fiscal year 2021. Those investments generated 1,580 jobs, $90.5 million in labor income, and a total output of $183 million in economic activity.

The total expenditures from WSU and WSU Tech were $602.9 million in 2021. Comparing that economic activity to the total economic output creates a multiplier effect. Dividing the $1.38 billion in the total impact by direct spending creates a multiplier of 2.27. For every million dollars spent, both academic units support an additional $1.27 million of activity among Kansas businesses.