Every $1 investment in CSU yields nearly $7 return for state, report says

State investment in the 23-campus California State University system leads to more economic activity for California.

A new economic impact report from the system found that for every dollar that California invests in the CSU, $6.98 of positive economic activity is generated. When including earnings from CSU alumni, the impact increases to $29.90 in total economic activity for every dollar invested in the system, according to the report.

The report , which is a snapshot of the system’s economic impact, is based on college data from the 2018-19 academic year.  The analysis also includes data from the U.S. National Income and Product Accounts from the Bureau of Economic Analysis within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It examines labor, industry, employment and tax revenues.

The report also details a regional return on investment. For example, the Bay Area CSU campuses, which include CSU East Bay, Cal Maritime, San Francisco State, San Jose State and Sonoma State, supported 28,400 local jobs in 2019. They also supported $1.9 billion in labor income, more than $4.4 billion in regional industry activity and generated $236 million in state and local tax revenue.