A new report released Monday showed the University of North Carolina Wilmington had a statewide economic impact of approximately $3.2 billion in fiscal year 2022.
About half of that impact, about $1.6 billion, was concentrated in the eight counties in Southeastern North Carolina: New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, Bladen, Columbus, Duplin, Onslow and Sampson counties.
The new report compiled by Mouhcine Guettabi, UNCW’s regional economist and an associate professor of economics, analyzes data from the university’s 2021-2022 fiscal year. The findings outline the university’s economic impact in five key areas, including operations, student spending, construction activity, visitor spending and alumni earnings.
Guettabi said the report took several months to compile. The university’s last economic impact report was completed in 2018. Before that, another impact report was completed in 2012.
The report used an input-output model called IMPLAN to estimate the “spillover effects” from initial spending from the university, students, visitors and alumni.
The model gauged direct effects (initial changes in spending that trigger secondary and tertiary spending rounds), indirect effects (activity stemming from business-to-business transactions that happen when direct spending affects purchases of suppliers), and induced effects (additional activity stemming from household spending).
During the year of analysis, UNCW spent $222.2 million on payroll and benefits for 2,718 full-time and part-time employees. The university spent another $147.7 million on goods and services to carry out day-to-day operations and research. Combined, UNCW’s operating expenditures totaled $369.9 million in fiscal year 2022.
Instructional faculty made up more than half of the university’s employees while the rest were research faculty, staff and administrators. All lived in the tri-county area with approximately 83% residing in New Hanover County. According to the report, the earnings of UNCW employees are “almost all spent in the region which means they generate spin-off activity” that bring money and jobs to the local economy.
The report estimates that direct spending of approximately $370 million from UNCW employees results in an indirect output of $139 million and an induced effect of $132 million for a total output of $642 million. The spending supports more than 7,500 jobs in the region.
Student spending provides another significant economic contribution. As of fall 2022, nearly 5,000 students lived on the UNCW campus with another roughly 13,000 students living in off-campus housing.
Approximately $206.5 million in direct spending from students results in an estimated $84.5 million in indirect and induced effect spending for a total impact of $291.1 million. That spending supports more than 2,600 jobs across the region.
UNCW also engages in “considerable construction activity for new buildings, maintenance and renovation,” according to the report. In 2022, there was $17.45 million in construction activity, resulting in $4.6 million in indirect effects and another $7.7 million in induced effects for a total of $29.86 million and 123 jobs supported.
Athletic events and visitor spending generate a considerable impact. In 2023, more than 14,400 overnight visitors traveled to the area for UNCW athletics with another 31,360 coming for regional day trips. Total output from these visits, including indirect and induced impacts, was $5.3 million along with 70 jobs supported.
Some of the university’s largest economic impacts come from its alumni. UNCW has more than 102,000 alumni and, of those, roughly 75% or around 76,200, live in North Carolina. Approximately 31% of alumni reside in the eight-county region surrounding Wilmington.
According to the report, research shows college graduates with a bachelor’s degree earn, on average, about $78,000 compared to $45,000 for an individual with a high school diploma. Therefore, more than $1.06 billion in additional labor income is circulated in the regional economy due to earnings tied to UNCW degrees, supporting more than 4,000 local jobs and an output of $657 million.
For Guettabi, UNCW’s reach is a big takeaway from the new report.
“We can talk about the numbers, but I think what's even more compelling is the reach of the university,” he said. “There are students from every state except Hawaii that attend UNCW, there are students from multiple countries that attend UNCW. The reach is really extensive, and I think that that’s an important part of it.”
The report helps quantify the university’s impact and growth over time, Guettabi said, but there are some things the data doesn’t capture. For example, it doesn’t show the impact the university has on the region’s attractiveness and quality of life and its role in drawing new companies to the area.
“Having the university here served as a magnet for firms and for individuals,” Guettabi said. “Those are things that don't explicitly enter our analysis, but they're just as important, if not even more important.”
The report provides a helpful benchmark that, Guettabi said, he plans to keep updating on an annual basis.
“I think one of the goals is to make sure that we have continual updates,” he said, “to monitor the health, the status of the university and where it's heading.”
Click here to view highlights from the report.
Guettabi will overview the report's findings on Wednesday during the Wilmington Biz Expo's Economic Outlook Keynote Lunch.