Southeast Missouri State University’s total economic impact on the region was $148 million in 2011, according to a new report.
Students spend nearly $64 million dollars per year in the local economy.
Economist Dr. Bruce Domazlicky is one of the university-commissioned report’s co-authors. He says students spend their money on typical things.
“Groceries is actually the number one. Dining out is also very important. Gasoline, of course,” Domazlicky said. “We found that cell phone use has increased dramatically since the last time we did this in 2003, as we would expect. Landline phones have, I won’t say they’ve disappeared, but they’re a lot less frequent.”
The last comparable study was in 2003. Since then, student spending increased on cell phones, internet service, and cable and satellite TV. Spending dropped at tanning salons, movie theaters, and on CD’s and DVD’s, among other things.
The university spent $15 million locally in 2011. Southeast spent an additional $7 million on construction projects.
Domazlicky says the university’s indirect economic heft is impressive.
“There’s about 36,000 graduates. These are not just people who attended, but actually graduated from Southeast,” Domazlicky said. “Roughly $600 million per year are being added to the state’s economy because these individuals have a better education.”