Facts & Statistics:  

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Fact Sheet: Economic Impact of Wharton County Junior College

What role does the Wharton County Junior College (WCJC) play in the local economy? Business sales in Wharton County are $191.3 million larger, and labor income is $76.1 million larger due to the past and present operations of WCJC. The benefits of a robust local economy translate into job and investment opportunities, increased business revenues, greater availability of public funds, and an eased tax burden.

  WCJC stimulates the local economy

• WCJC had an operating budget of $22.8 million in fiscal 2000, and spent $18.8 million (82%) of this on wages, salaries and supply purchases at Wharton County Junior College.
  
• WCJC employs 291 full-time and 204 part-time faculty and staff; 56% reside in Wharton County . WCJC paid faculty and staff wages of $142 million in fiscal 2000.
   
• For every $1 WCJC pays in wages and salaries, there is another $0.28 in wages and salaries generated off-campus in the Wharton County economy - this is the commonly known multiplier effect
  
• WCJC activities encourage new business, assist existing business, and creates long-term economic growth. The college enhances worker skills and provides customized training for employees in local business and industry. It is estimated that the present day Wharton County workforce embodies over 1.0 million credit and non-credit hours of past and present WCJC training.
  
• WCJC skills embodied in the present day workforce increase the output of industries in the Wharton County economy where the former students are employed by $115.02 million. Associated multiplier effects (sometimes called indirect effects) in other industries increase sales by $65.16 million.
  
• WCJC skills from current and former students increase wages and salaries in: Wharton County  by $36.3 million directly, and by another $21.7 million indirectly in fiscal 2000.

  WCJC leverages taxpayer dollars

• State and local government allocated $12.4 million in support of WCJC in fiscal 2000. For every dollar appropriated by state and county government, WCJC's spending alone generated $1.46 in wages and salaries in Wharton County Junior College.
  
• For every dollar appropriated by the state and county government in fiscal 2000, student earnings will increase by an average of $0.99 per year, every year through the rest of their working lives. Likewise, for every state dollar appropriated, Wharton County Junior College will see social savings of  $0.19 per year, every year (i.e., reduced incarceration and health care expenditures, reduced expenditures on unemployment and welfare, and reduced absenteeism).
  

  WCJC generates a return on government investment

• State and local government support for WCJC in fiscal 2000 will be fully recovered in 8.1 years, in the form of higher tax receipts (from increased student wages) and avoided costs (e.g., from reduced public expenditures on incarceration).
  
• Accounting for increased tax receipts and avoided costs; state and local government will see a rate of return of 16.5% on their fiscal 2000 support for WCJC.

  WCJC increases individuals' earning potential

• 9,277 credit and non-credit students attended the College in fiscal year 2000, 56% were employed full- or part-time while attending.
  
• 80% of the students stay in the region and contribute to the local economy after they leave the college.
  
• Studies demonstrate that education increases lifetime earnings. The average annual earnings of students with a 1-year certificate is $24,151, or 81.3% more than someone without a high school degree or GED, and 16.1% more than a student with just a high school diploma. _The average earnings of someone with an associate degree is $28,415, or 113.3% more than someone without a high school degree or GED, and 36.6% more than a student with  a high school diploma or GED.
  
• After leaving the college, the average WCJC student will spend 39.0 years in the workforce. The student who leaves with a two-year college degree will earn $297,122 more than someone with a high school degree or GED.
  
• Over their next 39.0 years in the workforce, the average WCJC student's lifetime earnings will increase $19 for every education dollar invested (in the form of tuition, fees, books, and forgone earnings from employment).
  
• Students enjoy an attractive 20.8% rate of return on their WCJC educational investment, and recover all costs (including wages foregone while attending WCJC) in 7.2 years.