Iowa Central Community College, with approximately 5,686 students from Iowa, 42 additional U.S. states, and 25 foreign countries, is a valuable contributor to the economic well-being and vitality for the Fort Dodge and regional communities in the college’s nine-county service area and for the State of Iowa.

In a study completed by Goss & Associates earlier this year examining the economic impact of the college, we found that investments in Iowa Central made by community and state taxpayers produce significant returns and contribute to the area’s economic progress and quality of life. In fact, for every $1 of local tax support, Iowa Central Community College produces $4.48 of support from state and federal government sources. The payback period for this taxpayer support is 3.2 years. Our study also found that Iowa Central generates additional funds for state and local tax coffers. These taxing entities receive approximately 23.7 and 24.1 percent more, respectively, in tax revenue from individuals holding associate degrees compared to those with high school diplomas only.

Institutes of higher learning are important drivers in terms of attracting and retaining population in Iowa contributing to area and state “brain gain.” In a 2013 survey, 84.6 percent Iowa’s college students who were surveyed indicated that a strong education system would influence their decision to remain in Iowa. While the survey found that 44.6 percent of Iowa college students plan to remain in the state after leaving college, an even higher percentage (46.7) of Iowa’s community college students indicated they planned to stay in Iowa.

The educated workforce provided by Iowa Central leads not only to higher earnings for its students, but increased revenues for the community. The college specifically aids area businesses through partnerships such as that with UnityPoint Health, and expanded participation in the Iowa Industrial New Jobs Training Program (260E) in FY2014. As result of their dramatic growth, their funds for participating in the program doubled in one year’s time. At $8,330 per job, Iowa Central outperformed all other community colleges that issued (260E) bonds by 87.6 percent.

These and other gains help to expand economic progress and improve the overall quality of life for residents of the service area as well as the state. In fact, the rate of volunteerism rises dramatically as the level of education increases. We found that attending Iowa Central Community College results in sharply higher rates of volunteerism in the community from graduates, and exceeds those with only a high-school diploma by one-third.  This is especially important as volunteerism in Iowa supports 135,000 jobs yearly and generates more than $15.8 billion in annual revenues for the state. For the U.S. overall, each volunteer hour is estimated to be worth $23.07, contributing $887.3 billion each year to the U.S. economy.

Iowa Central Community College excels academically as well. We found that its students, of whom 8.7 percent are drawn from other states, achieve a higher share of per-student credit hours than students attending other community colleges in the state. And in fact, in 2014, Iowa Central students exceeded the overall success rate (move on to four-year colleges) of other Iowa community college students by 7.5 percentage points.  In terms of recognition for their efforts, Iowa Central Community College led the average Iowa community colleges in awards with 27.1 awards per 1,000 service area population. The highest areas for awards were in college transfers and health science programs.

As the largest employer in its service area with 829 faculty and staff, the college is an important driver of area and state job growth. From 2010 through 2014, the college’s service area experienced a 28 percent increase in private sector employment. Most of these jobs, 7 percent, were in private sector, goods-producing industries.

After Iowa Central spends its operating and construction dollars in the community (a significant amount of those funds brought in from outside the state through visitor spending and federal grants and endowments), its impact continues to support industries and services that are indirectly linked to the college. Our study estimated that for the period 2015 to 2020, the college spending will support an average of 1,336 year-round jobs in a variety of industries throughout its nine-county service area, and an average of 1,445 jobs per year for Iowa. For the overall economy, Iowa Central Community College has proven to be an engine of economic progress for its nine-county service area for 2014, generating $46 million in wages and salaries for area workers and $137 million in additional sales.

Not only does the college provide value through increased jobs, wages and overall economic activity for the Fort Dodge community, its nine-county service area, and the state of Iowa, the college has impacted the area through its good citizenship and educational advocacy. In 2014, Iowa Central exceeded by 88 percent all other Iowa community colleges in the state in terms of awarding high school equivalency diplomas (GEDs) in their service areas.

Importantly, community college education results in lower rates of unemployment as well as higher wages.  This is especially dramatic for high school graduates who obtain associates degrees, where a drop of 1.5 percent in unemployment is experienced. And further, U.S. community college students earn an additional $3.80 for every $1 that they invest in their community college education. Students who attend Iowa Central Community College full-time and work part-time will likely earn an additional 17.8 percent in wages and salaries over their worklife.

While Iowa Central Community College plays a significant and positive role in higher education for its students by increasing their lifetime earnings, our study shows that this institution also produces big benefits for the community, the region and the state by significantly increasing overall economic output, jobs and tax revenues.

Ernie Goss, Ph.D., is a principal and economist at Goss & Associates.