Do universities really help the local economy?

Gone are the days when universities could take a patrician view of their impact on the local economy, content in the knowledge that they provide lowly jobs for people to clean and cook. Now they have to be genuine wealth creators rather than dispensers of crumbs from the master's table. So there's a flurry of research into the benefits that universities bring to the locals.

 

The latest to cross our desk comes from Georgia Tech, one of the hidden, to European eyes, secrets of American academia. The press release with the study proclaims that "Georgia Tech provides a $3.9 billion impact within the state of Georgia and supports directly or indirectly the creation of approximately 44,400 jobs to the state. Based on the annual funding the state provides Georgia Tech, the return on investment through economic impact is almost $15 for every state dollar."

 

The study, sponsored by 10 of Georgia’s "top companies," also found that "More than fifty companies have been started based on technology developed at Georgia Tech since 1990."

 

But the university's ambitions are by no means solely local. "Georgia Tech is deliberately developing a global presence, with research and education platforms in France and Singapore, an office of the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Ireland, and expanding partnerships with institutions such as Imperial College in Great Britain and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China," the report boasts. And all this in the face of declining state funding.

 

It is also interesting to note that American universities have learnt something from their European colleagues. Change is a dirty word. "The present administrative structure for Georgia Tech within the University System of Georgia has not changed substantially for decades." The report offers some advice on how to go forward. We wonder if they will find a more receptive audience than plans to kick Britain's dreaming spires into the 20th (sic) century.