Colleges Boost State Economy

Private colleges play as significant a role in Massachusetts's economy as other major industries according to a report released this week by a higher education lobbying group.

The study, conducted for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM), provided a survey of the economic impact of the state's 115 private colleges and universities, including Harvard.

The association said in a statement released Tuesday that the report demonstrates the importance of private colleges in the commonwealth's economic picture.

"The point is to show that in real dollars, the independent colleges do make a big difference," said Alison S. Hitesman, public relations director for the group, which has 57 member institutions.

AICUM does not release statistics for individual colleges, Hitesman said. But she said Harvard, a founding member of AICUM 22 years ago, is one of the largest contributors in most categories.

The report said that independent higher education institutions in Massachusetts:

* Are responsible for $9.9 billion in direct and indirect spending in the commonwealth, including student expenditures.

* Employ more than 125,000 people.

* Spent $2.3 billion on employee salaries, wages and benefits in fiscal year 1989-90.

* Generate $168 million in Massachusetts income tax revenue and $1.046 billion in federal personal income tax.

According to the association's statement, the number of people employed in schools exceed the number of people employed in several manufacturing industries. In addition, the school employment figures match construction employment figures "during the boom development years."

"In addition to its more widely known educational and cultural contributions, independent higher education is an engine of the state's economic growth," AICUM President Clare M. Cotton said in a press release.

Struggling Economy

Both Cotton and Sister Janet Eisner, president of Emmanuel College and chair of AICUM for this academic year, said stable economic sectors such as private higher education are important to the struggling Massachusetts economy.

"The study makes clear we remain one of the largest employers and importers of people in the commonwealth and have an impact on the national economy as well," Eisner said in the statement.

The report, the fifth such study in the past decade, was prepared by the Social Welfare Research Institute at Boston College.

A "sophisticated computer model" was used to assimilate the information from the surveyed colleges and to extrapolate it to include all of the 115 independent Massachusetts colleges, Hitesman said.