Some may complain that Salem State University doesn't pay taxes on the several large parcels it occupies along Loring Avenue in South Salem. But the college makes a major financial contribution to the city and region, nevertheless, as outlined in a new report from its Center for Economic Development and Sustainability.
The report estimates the university's economic impact — employee salaries and benefits, purchased goods and services, and student spending — at $562 million statewide in 2010, $296 million within Essex County, and $104 million within its home community.
The school is one of the largest employers in the city of Salem, and among the top 10 on the North Shore.
Most important is the fact that SSU graduates tend to remain in the area, contributing to both the economy and quality of life here during the course of their lifetimes. Nearly 80 percent of SSU's 50,000 alumni live in this state.
"Public higher education graduates stay in Massachusetts and give back many times over," SSU President Patricia Maguire Meservey rightly observed. "Our investment in our students yields great gains for our commonwealth."
Meservey and team met Friday morning with business leaders from both The Salem Partnership and the North Shore Economic Alliance, making the case that SSU grads earn some $16,000 more annually than those with only a high-school diploma.
It's unfortunate, however, that at about the same time this news was being released, the school's trustees saw fit to make the cost of an SSU degree considerably higher. They voted last week to hike student fees — which now far exceed tuition — to make up for the loss of federal stimulus funds and an anticipated reduction in state assistance. It will mean an increase of $1,000 for some students.
We suspect the $11 million SSU students are estimated to have spent with Salem businesses in 2010 might diminish, given the extra money undergraduates must shell out beginning next fall.
Still, it's important to remember that the less than $20,000 it costs to attend a school like SSU, including room and board, is still a bargain compared to private-college costs, which can approach $50,000 a year.
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