Study suggests UH degrees are crucial economic factor (original) (raw)

The University of Houston System boosts the local economy by $3.1 billion a year while generating directly or indirectly about 24,000 jobs in the metropolitan area, according to a new study.

But the UH System-commissioned report warns that Houston's economy will falter unless the city's universities significantly increase the number of workers with degrees.

The study, conducted by the university's Institute for Regional Forecasting, provides a marketing tool for the UH System in its plans to transform the University Park campus into a leading national research institution.

"Size is an extremely important factor," said Jay Gogue, the UH System's chancellor, who will officially unveil the 225-page study today at a breakfast for business leaders.

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Gogue also will reveal a long-range plan for the main campus, which is expected to grow from 35,000 students to 45,000 students over the next decade. University leaders want to increase the building space from 8 million square feet to 14 million square feet and the number of beds on campus from 4,200 to 11,000.

Of the nation's 60 largest cities, Houston ranks No. 59 in terms of college enrollment per capita and No. 57 in terms of locally conferred degrees per capita, according to a recent study by the Atlanta Regional Council of Higher Education.

"It sort of says we have a lot of work to do in the education business to get back to average as a community," Gogue said.

To help pay for the expansion, administrators are in the early stages of planning the largest fundraising campaign in the university's history.

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A target amount has yet to be set, but some campus officials said last year that the campaign would seek at least $600 million.

Gogue said he commissioned the study to make the university system's economic impact clear to state lawmakers.

Ten years ago, the state provided 43 percent of the system's revenue. The four-campus system received about 35 percent of its dollars from the state last year.

"We would like to say we are a pretty good investment," Gogue said.

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Jeff Moseley, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, a business advocacy group, said the university system is undervalued.

"It is clearly a jewel," he said. "There are measurable, quantifiable numbers that show job creation.

The fact is, the University of Houston System makes Houston more globally competitive."

The university system's economic impact of $3.1 billion accounts for less than 1 percent of the region's overall economy, according to the report.

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Economist Barton Smith, who conducted the study, wrote that the UH System's contribution has about twice as great an economic impact on Houston as Compaq Computer did at its peak.