FRANK D. SÁNCHEZ
How do we leverage Rhode Island’s public higher education institutions to benefit our economy? One strategy is to produce more college graduates who want to make Rhode Island their home. As a newcomer to the state and with a 25-year career in higher education, I’ve not seen an economic fuel more potent or promising to accomplish this than what is proposed in the Rhode Island Promise legislation.
Rhode Island College has been a powerful engine for economic development in the state since its founding in 1854. Currently, 85 percent of RIC’s student enrollments are in-state and 71 percent of our graduates choose to live, work and raise their families in Rhode Island. While continuing to be a leading producer of teacher certificates, RIC has become a significant pipeline to our state’s growing industries.
In examining the governor’s proposal, which provides residents two years of taxpayer-funded tuition at our public institutions, it appears the benefits to and impact on Rhode Island are far more extensive than just the opportunity for residents to attend college.
Economist Jonathan Rothwell of the Brookings Institute's Metropolitan Policy Program recently detailed the effects of college and university graduates on local economies. The study, which used data from the 2013 American Community Survey, looked at how much the average college graduate spends on local goods and services.
Rothwell found that households with a college graduate spent $13,000 more each year locally than households where a high school graduate was the highest educated member. What does this mean for Rhode Island College and, on a broader scale, the state’s economy?
For a Rhode Island College graduate, the state "Promise" tuition expense for two years would be approximately $17,000 (two years of tuition). The economic return of purchased goods and services is estimated to be $26,000 just two years after graduation. Not bad for a relatively immediate infusion of dollars into our economy. But how about over a lifetime?
The same study estimated that a college graduate will spend, over his or her lifetime, approximately $278,000 more on local goods and services. In addition, that graduate will pay $44,000 more in taxes over the average household with a high school graduate as the highest educated member. That means, for every Rhode Island College first generation college graduate (43 percent of first-year students this past fall), the state would invest roughly $17,000 and receive just under a staggering 19-to-1 return to the economy.
Nineteen dollars back for every dollar spent? Certainly worth more conversation. An estimated direct return on paid taxes alone is more than two and a half times the state’s investment. Even more compelling, these figures don’t take into account that college graduates are significantly less reliant on government programs and services than those with a high school diploma.
The Rhode Island Promise doesn’t just make economic sense. It holds RIC, the Community College of Rhode Island and the University of Rhode Island accountable as catalysts for economic growth.
After nine months at RIC, I’ve learned a great deal about the institution’s historic role supporting Rhode Island’s economy. In particular, I’ve seen firsthand the state’s motivated sons and daughters doing all they can for the chance of receiving a high-quality, high-value college degree. Many of our students serve in the armed forces, work extra jobs and spend hundreds of hours on public transportation to ensure a college degree is within reach. Unfortunately, the rising cost of higher education is leaving far too many talented and gifted Rhode Island students short of the finish line.
For more than 163 years, Rhode Island College has supported the state with talented graduates who directly contribute to Rhode Island’s economic health. I am reminded of one of RIC’s incoming freshman, Emily West, and her great grandmother Eleanor West. Over the span of 78 years and four generations, both made the most of the opportunity RIC gave them to better their lives and contribute back to their home state.
As Rhode Islanders, we should all be invested in the state’s talent and the economic power of increasing the number of college graduates for generations to come.
— Frank D. Sánchez is the president of Rhode Island College.