HIGHER EDUCATION HAS $2 BILLION ANNUAL IMPACT

DATELINE: SAN ANTONIO

The University of Texas at San Antonio issued the following news release:

By Ashley Harris

Public Affairs Specialist

A study released today by the Higher Education Council of San Antonio (HECSA) calculates that higher education is a significant economic generator for San Antonio and surrounding communities, contributing $2.2 billion annually.

According to the study conducted by the Institute for Economic Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio, more than 100,000 students attend the 31 institutions of higher education in and around San Antonio.

"The array of San Antonio's institutions of higher education is a draw for both personal achievement and new economic development," said Tessa Martinez-Pollack, president of Our Lady of the Lake University and chairman of the Higher Education Council of San Antonio. "This study shows the impact of higher education spending as another dimension of our contribution to the local economy."

The study indicates that direct spending (operating expenses, capital, faculty and staff salaries/benefits and student spending) by higher education institutions in San Antonio accounted for $1.5 billion in 2004.

Additional expenditures in the local economy in the form of consumer spending by faculty, staff and students for housing, food, services and other items resulted in an additional impact of nearly $800 million.

Additionally, the study found that higher education institutions in the San Antonio metropolitan area generated 24,851 jobs in 2004, accounting for 3.3 percent of all non-farm jobs.

Commissioned by HECSA and conducted by the Center for Community and Business Research at the UTSA Institute for Economic Development, the results of the study were announced at a luncheon sponsored by the San Antonio Greater Chamber of Commerce and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Established in 1974, the Higher Education Council of San Antonio promotes and develops higher education in San Antonio and Bexar County through inter-institutional collaboration and engagement with the business, cultural, political and K-12 leadership of the community.

* Higher Education Council of San Antonio member institutions are:

* Alamo Community College District

* Baptist University of the Americas

* McNay Art Museum

* Northwest Vista College

* Northeast Lakeview College

* Oblate School of Theology

* Our Lady of the Lake University

* Palo Alto College

* St. Mary's University

* St. Philip's College

* San Antonio College

* San Antonio Museum of Art

* Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary

* Southwest Foundation of Biomedical Research

* Southwest Research Institute

* Texas A&M University - Kingsville System Center - San Antonio

* University of the Incarnate Word

* University of Texas at San Antonio

* University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

* UTSA's Institute of Texan Cultures

* Witte Museum

* Trinity University

* Wayland Baptist University

* U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine

* Universidad Autonoma Guadalajara

* Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico