Economic Output

When measuring the impact of Binghamton University on the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)—which includes Broome and Tioga counties exclusively—we focus on both direct and indirect spending. Direct spending includes those expenditures by the university in the form of (1) salaries, wages, and fringe benefits; (2) operating expenses beyond salaries, wages, and fringe benefits; and (3) expenditures associated with capital costs and outlays. ⁱ

University Direct Expenditures

Salaries and wages are reported by the university through a number of methods, most notably through the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Post-Secondary Data System (IPEDS) submission process in which the university is required to participate every year. ⁱⁱ  For the purposes of this report, we use a conservative methodology to measure the direct impact on the local and regional economies by calculating the total disposable income of all full- and part-time employees employed by Binghamton University as faculty, staff, student workers, and federal work study students, as well as those indirectly employed through auxiliary enterprises such as the university bookstore, Sodexo food services, M&T Bank, and child care services. ^III After summing these and subtracting taxes taken out of the state and not re-invested in the area, we estimate that total salaries, wages, and benefits that constitute disposable income equal $241.4 million in FY2010.

We estimate that operating expenses totaled $61.6 million in FY2010 after adjusting for the estimated percentage of out of area flows.

With regard to capital costs and outlays, we include funds expended through the State University Construction Fund and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. We do not include land purchases and equipment purchases because it is likely that these expenditures involve few funds that flow into the area in the form of labor or local or regional spending. As is a usual practice with construction funding, we subtract a percentage of expenditure that we estimate would not flow into the area (also known as "leakage"). After subtracting these elements, we estimate that total costs and outlays for FY2010 were $82.9 million. ^iv

Table 1. Binghamton University Direct Expenditures, July 1,2009 to June 30, 2010
Category	Amount
Salaries, Wages, and Fringe Benefits	$241,443,773
Good and Services	$ 61,602,554
Capital Costs and Outlays	$ 82,940,253
Binghamton University's Direct Spending	$385,986,580

Student and Visitor Spending

In addition to its direct expenditures, Binghamton University's impact can also be measured through the spending of its students and visitors.

Visitor Spending

We estimate that more than 200,000 visitors came to campus during FY2010, including parents, prospective students, event attendees, and others, as shown in Table 2. The first kind of visit occurs when prospective students, their parents, and others, come to campus. The second kind of visit is for events, such as athletic, Anderson Center, or graduation events. The third kind of visit occurs when parents and others visit students during the course of the school year.

Table 2. Visitor Expenditures, July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010
	Total Out of Area Visits	Total Spent on Hotels	Total Non-Hotel Expenditures	Total Spent
Admissions Events	15,008	$345,184	$   469,000	$   814,184
Alumni Events	549	$ 18,947	$     15,255	$     34,202
Anderson Center Events	3,748	$ 64,646	$   468,450	$   533,096
Athletic Events	7,450	$ 42,839	$3,725,100	$3,767,939
Conference Center Events	480	$ 11,040	$     40,000	$     51,040
Graduation Events	5,803	$333,663	$   241,785	$   241,785
Visits to Students	4,851	$111,573	$1,197,225	$1,308,798
Totals	36,902	$927,892	$6,156,815	$7,084,707

 We estimate that visitor expenditures exceeded $7million during FY2010.

Student Spending

During the course of their academic study, students spend within the Binghamton area, in the form of rent, food, utilities, transportation, and in other ways. In July 2009, Binghamton University's Department of Geography surveyed students regarding their spending behaviors on and off campus.vi

We are therefore able to estimate the amount of money students spend while studying at the university, as shown in Table 3 below.

Table 3. Student Spending
	Number of Students	Monthly Amount Spent	Months of Local Residency	Amount
On-Campus Undergraduate Students	6,268	228	10	$14,291,040
Off-Campus Undergraduate Students	4,936	693	10	$34,206,480
Off-Campus Graduate Students	1,491	816	10	$14,599,872
Total	12,695			$63,097,392

We therefore estimate total student spending at approximately $63 million during FY2010 in Broome and Tioga counties, and $74.3 million in all of New York State, including students who live outside these counties. viii

Total Output

The university's total impact is estimated to be the total of direct and indirect spending times both regional and New York State multipliers as provided by the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis.ix Total and indirect spending during FY2010 equaled over $456 million.

The $456.2 million in direct and indirect expenditures are applied to the regional multiplier for the Binghamton Metropolitan Area (which includes Broome and Tioga counties), this becomes approximately $738 million in total impact. For New York State, this becomes over $1 billion in overall economic impact.

From a net impact perspective, the $456.2 million in direct and indirect spending directly attributed to Binghamton University produces an additional $281.7 million in economic impact for Broome and Tioga counties, and an extra $293.1 million for New York State beyond Broome and Tioga counties.xi

However, this only tells part of the story because the University impacts the region and state with regard to jobs and human capital. In the next section, we discuss how this spending is associated with job creation in the Broome and Tioga counties and New York State.

-->ENDNOTES