INTRODUCTION
We all know that colleges and universities have a major impact on the economy. They educate and train the workforce while also injecting substantial dollars into local and regional markets. There are plenty of solid, well-accepted ways to measure this impact including student and visitor spending, institutional operations, and construction activity. However, one commonly used measure should be left out: measuring the impact of alumni. Measuring alumni outcomes as a part of a college’s economic impact assumes that, but for a specific college or university, graduates would not have attended college at all or achieved similar levels of success without that particular degree. That’s a leap of logic that stretches well beyond what economic impact analysis can reasonably support.
THE METHOD BEHIND THE MADNESS
Approaches to estimating alumni impact vary widely and never convincingly. Some studies calculate alumni earnings for a single year, while others attempt to project earnings across an entire career. To do this, analysts first estimate how many alumni are active in the workforce, sometimes assuming a working lifetime as long as 43 years (University of Kansas, 2023). Others rely on Credit Hour Equivalents (CHEs) to approximate the added knowledge and productivity alumni contribute, regardless of whether they completed a degree. For example, one study estimated roughly 6.7 million CHEs linked to alumni currently in the workforce (City College of New York, 2022). Adding to the confusion, several analyses provide little to no explanation of how these figures are derived at all, leaving readers to take the numbers on faith (Auburn University, Division of University Outreach, 2023). While the methods and results may look impressive on the surface, the wide range of assumptions raises serious questions about how meaningful these estimates really are.
HOW BAD IS IT?
One national study goes so far as to argue that one out of every 18 jobs in the United States is supported by the activities of America’s community college alumni (American Association of Community Colleges, 2022). Others zoom in at the regional level, asserting large slices of local economic output can be traced directly back to graduates. One study, for example, claims alumni contribute $2 billion, or roughly 4% of total GDP, within a single metropolitan statistical area (Drake University, 2016). Still others take an even broader leap, boasting that alumni are responsible for as much as 8% of total state employment (Inter-University Council of Ohio, 2023). While these figures are certainly attention‑grabbing, they also underscore just how expansive and assumption‑heavy alumni impact claims have become, and can downplay the true annual economic impact that these colleges and universities actually have.
The following table shows how adding alumni impacts to the total impacts of the university greatly increases the job and total output. The four studies listed below show the percentage of the total economic impact to employment attributed to alumni ranging from 31%-82%, and total output ranging from 31%-80%.
Employment Impact of Alumni and University Operations
| University Name | Alumni Employment | Total Employment | % Employment Impact from Alumni | % Employment Impact from University Operations |
| University of Kansas | 27,560 | 87,693 | 31% | 69% |
| Ohio Public Universities | 648,329 | 866,782 | 75% | 25% |
| City College of New York | 20,699 | 25,121 | 82% | 18% |
| Auburn | 18,178 | 30,296 | 60% | 40% |
Output Impact of Alumni and University Operations
| University Name | Alumni Output | Total Output | % Output Impact from Alumni | % Output Impact from University Operations |
| University of Kansas | $4,652,340 | $14,825,518 | 31% | 69% |
| Ohio Public Universities | $106,955,229 | $139,066,183 | 77% | 23% |
| City College of New York | $4,802,604 | $6,021,364 | 80% | 20% |
| Auburn | $3,810,000,000 | $6,340,000,000 | 60% | 40% |
As demonstrated, including alumni yearly or lifetime earnings severely increases the reported economic impact of these universities. The Inter-University Council of Ohio, 2023) went so far as to add in dollar values attributed to student volunteer hours, but that’s a whole other article. When conducting, or reading, an economic impact analysis, consider checking out some solid studies. Also, best practices are outlined in the article The Economic Impact of Small Colleges on Local Economies: A Guide to Attainable Data and Best Practices, with some pretty impressive authors (Khalaf, Jolley, & Clouse, 2022).
New Mexico State University - 2022
University of Washington - 2023
RELATED ARTICLES
Analyzing a Public College using Industry Impact Analysis (Detailed)
Considerations when Conducting College & University Economic Impacts
Modeling Private College & University Impacts using Industry Impact Analysis (Detailed)
Volunteers: Estimating the Economic Impact of Free Labor
REFERENCES
American Association of Community Colleges. (2022). The economic value of America’s community colleges: Executive summary (FY 2019–20). https://www.aacc.nche.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AACC_ExecSum_1920_Formatted-Finalv2.pdf
Auburn University, Division of University Outreach. (2023). Auburn University economic impact study – 2023. https://outreach.auburn.edu/auburnacrossalabama/documents/aueconomicimpactstudy2023.pdf
City College of New York. (2022). Lightcast report highlights CCNY’s workforce impact. https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/lightcast-report
Drake University. (2016). Economic impact study. https://www.drake.edu/community/neighborhoodrelations/economicdevelopment/economicimpactstudy
Inter-University Council of Ohio. (2023). Economic impact study: Main report, FY 2021–2022. https://iuc-ohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IUC-Economic-Impact-Study-MainReport_2122_Final.pdf
Khalaf, C., Jolley, G.J., & Clouse, C. (2022). The Economic Impact of Small Colleges on Local Economies: A Guide to Attainable Data and Best Practices. Economic Development Quarterly, 36, (1), 1-16.
University of Kansas. (2023). KU economic impact study. Office of Economic Development. https://economicdevelopment.ku.edu/impact
CASE STUDY
Written January 23, 2026