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RVCC: A Sound Investment for Students,
Taxpayers & Businesses

A 2012 Socioeconomic Impact Study conducted by EMSI found:

Raritan Valley Community College plays a significant role in the local economy and is a sound investment from multiple perspectives. Students benefit from improved lifestyles and increased earnings. Taxpayers benefit from a larger economy and lower social costs. Finally, the community as a whole benefits from increased job and investment opportunities, higher business revenues, greater availability of public funds, and an eased tax burden.

INVESTMENT

Student Benefits
•   RVCC served 8,484 students in the 2010-11 reporting year.
     
•   Education increases lifetime income. The average income at the career midpoint of someone with an associate’s degree in the Somerset and Hunterdon counties is $69,200.
   
Students enjoy a 14.5% rate of return
on their investment in RVCC.  


•   The average RVCC student’s income increases by $4.60 for every dollar invested in RVCC.
     
•   Students enjoy an attractive 14.5% average rate of return on their RVCC educational investment, recovering all costs in 10.1 years.


Society Benefits
•   Higher earnings of RVCC students and associated increases in state income expand the tax base in New Jersey by about $68.5 million each year.
     
•   New Jersey will see avoided social costs amounting to $1.8 million per year due to improved health, reduced crime, and reduced welfare and unemployment.


Taxpayer Benefits
•   State and county governments allocated approximately $23.5 million in support of RVCC in FY 2010-11 (county operating aid $13.3 million; state aid $5.6 million; state scholarships $4.6 million).
     
•   For every dollar of this support, taxpayers see a return of $4.30 (in the form of higher tax receipts and avoided costs).
     
•   State and county governments see an annual rate of return of 12.1% on their support for RVCC.
     
•   This return subsidizes other state and local activities.




ECONOMIC GROWTH

College Operations Effect
•   The Somerset and Hunterdon counties economy annually receives $31.6 million in income due to RVCC operations.
   
Added income attributable to the accumulation
of RVCC skills amounts to $270.7 million each year.  


Productivity Effect
•   The Somerset and Hunterdon counties economy embodies an estimated 1 million credits that have accumulated over the past 30-year period as thousands of former RVCC students enter the workforce.
     
•   RVCC credits translate to higher earnings for students and increased output of businesses. The added income attributable to the accumulation of RVCC credits in the workforce amounts to around $270.7 million each year.


Student Spending Effect
•   RVCC estimates that approximately 16% of its students come from outside the region.
     
•   The expenditures of RVCC‘s out-of-county students generate roughly $541,500 in added income in the Somerset and Hunterdon counties each year.


Total Effect
•   The total annual impacts on the Somerset and Hunterdon counties sum to $302.9 million.
     
•   The total impact represents 0.8% of the total regional economy and roughly 4,050 average wage jobs.

Summary of findings from the 2012 The Economic Contribution of Raritan Valley Community College study. The study was conducted by Economic Modeling Specialists Inc., a national leader in conducting economic impact studies for community colleges and other institutions of higher learning.