Novus Innovation Corridor
More than one in four working Arizonans with a bachelor’s degree earned it from Arizona State University but the economic impact generated is a crucial benefit to the entire state.
According to a new report from the Seidman Research Institute at the W. P. Carey School of Business, ASU’s spending on operations and construction contributes, directly and indirectly, $6.1 billion to the state’s gross domestic product. The impact from ASU’s annual operating and construction expenditures alone are equivalent to the value of hosting eight of the Big Games each year, according to Dennis Hoffman, director of ASU’s Office of the University Economist.
“ASU delivers about eight times as much impact every year using additional GDP as the basis for comparison,” said Hoffman.
The $6.1 billion figure from Fiscal Year 2024 is based on the impact of spending on: operations, visitors and students, business-to-business transactions and employees using their income on services and products from other businesses around the state. Taking into account the measures of economic activity traced to the university such as alumni wages and ASU-linked businesses, the university’s economic impact in the state is likely about $32 billion. Compared to the FY 2021-2022 number of 5.4 billion, ASU’s impact is not only sustained, it is growing by the year.
FY 2024 Report Highlights:
- Job incomes: ASU can claim nearly 56,000 jobs counting both its 21,800 payroll employees and the additional jobs generated as a result of spending by employees, students and visitors.
- Graduates contributing with taxes: The estimated 306,000 ASU graduates working in Arizona deliver outstanding services from health care, engineering and the arts — all while increasingly bolstering the state tax base. This translates to about $1.8 billion in state and local taxes generated by ASU alumni.
- Research expenditures: ASU is on the cusp of $1 billion in annual research funding, placing the university into a rare category that only 33 universities in the nation have reached. ASU is one of only a handful of schools to accomplish the feat without a medical school. The university is in the process of launching one which will significantly boost research expenditures in the future.
“Arizona State University recognizes its responsibility to serve as an economic driver for Arizona,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “Our state has a vast capacity to grow in success and resilience, fueled by ASU’s ongoing investments as a leader in educational access, workforce development, research, entrepreneurship and innovation, partnerships, technology and more. This empowers our students, faculty, employees and visitors to bolster Arizona’s economy to new levels.”
