Study spells out impact of Pennsylvania private, independent colleges on their communities

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Pennsylvania’s 80-plus independent, private colleges and universities contributed $29 billion to the state’s economy in 2024, and confer 77,000 degrees a year, according to an annual economic impact report they commissioned.

In the report released Monday, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, or AICUP, said that its economic impact to the state for fiscal year 2024 increases to $65.6 billion if you include the teaching hospitals owned by its members, such as the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University health systems.

In addition, the association’s members generated $1.5 billion in state and local taxes; supported about 195,120 jobs in the state; and its 279,000 students spend about $5.3 billion a year.

The group includes larger institutions such as Carnegie Mellon, Penn, Drexel and Villanova universities. But most association members are smaller, including Haverford College, Swarthmore College and Neumann University.

“These schools lead the state and do the heavy lifting for Pennsylvania by creating jobs and attracting talent to the state,” AICUP president Thomas P. Foley said in a statement. “The AICUP schools are the lifeblood that keeps dozens of towns in Pennsylvania thriving.”

The independent study was compiled by the Parker Strategy Group in Philadelphia, based on surveys of member institutions and data from the U.S. Department of Education.

The institutions’ contributions are not just financial.

For example, the association’s members conferred 69% of the state’s nursing degrees, 45% of the state’s teaching degrees, 58% of all STEM degrees and 53% of all four-year degrees. Their student ranks included 46% of the state’s Pell Grant recipients, 47% of Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency state grant recipients, 52% of working age students seeking degrees and 55% of all minority students.

In addition, the report cites $200.5 million in philanthropy by its member institutions, including $149 million in volunteer hours’ value and $51.5 million in charitable giving. It also included a host of business and community partnerships by its members.

Chris Domes, president of Neumann University, said the association’s economic impact message is a powerful one for the state, the communities where they reside, policy makers and the business community.

“I think it’s important for all of our constituents,” Domes said. “It’s for the students and families as well, letting them know that this is a powerful, impactful set of institutions with terrific outcomes.”

Neumann, which has about 2,400 students studying nursing, allied health and technology, such as cybersecurity, is typical of most of the association’s schools. Neuman contributes about $163 million to its community, Aston, in Delaware County, he said.

“We are scattered across the state, in small towns and cities helping the economic engines of those communities,” Domes said. “We are really excited to be a part of a vibrant college community that is giving so much to help support the citizens of the state.”

According to the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, higher education is the fifth-largest industry in the state.

“The report contradicts the presumption that only state-funded public colleges and universities contribute to state economies, and it emphasizes the mutual benefits that collaboration across institutions, legislators and employers can yield,” said Emily Wadhwani, senior director at Fitch Ratings, Inc., in Chicago, who follows the higher education sector.

A 2019 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that the Philadelphia metro area has about 500,000 jobs related to the education and medical sectors.

“The eds-and-meds-reliant regions vary from the large metro region of Philadelphia to the college town of State College, Pa., to the smaller city of Bloomsburg, Pa., home to Geisinger Health,” the Fed report stated.

“We are very fortunate in this state to have such an incredible higher educational system that attracts citizens of the state of Pennsylvania and broadly attracts talent from other places in the U.S. and all over the world,” said Domes, the Neumann president. “The independent college universities in Pennsylvania make up a significant portion of the graduates and the students in Pennsylvania.”