An LSU research group released a 15-page report in March detailing the LSU system’s economic impact on Louisiana, arriving at a sum of $6.1 billion of total statewide impact in the fiscal year 2021-2022.
The number, calculated by examining both the impacts a degree from LSU had on a student’s lifetime earnings and the impact of LSU’s own spending, was touted by LSU President William F. Tate IV upon its release amid his statewide “Scholarship First” tour.
“LSU’s campuses contribute a tremendous amount to the state, and the Scholarship First Agenda is a targeted path toward increasing our impact,” Tate said.
Tate suggested even the multibillion-dollar figure couldn’t get the full picture of what LSU is contributing to the state.
“More difficult to measure but of vital importance are the tremendous cultural assets our faculty and students deliver through the arts, literature, music, and humanities. Those activities enrich lives and deepen community engagement – just another example of how LSU enhances Louisiana’s future,” Tate added in a possible response to a common criticism of the scholarship first agenda’s noticeable lack of humanities priorities. The plan’s listed priorities are agriculture, biotech, coast, defense and energy.
The report itself, by the Economic & Policy Research Group, is brief and easily read, presenting interesting facts about LSU’s economic effect on the region. Here are some of them.
Impact by school
LSU’s Baton Rouge campus unsurprisingly generated the most economic impact in Louisiana by a wide margin, creating $2.3 billion of the $6.1 billion dollars the system generates, significantly exceeding second place LSU Health New Orleans’ $1.6 billion and third place LSU Health Shreveport’s $1 billion.
The effect of athletics
LSU’s powerhouse of an athletic program made enough economic impact to receive its own section in the report, generating an eye-raising $500 million on its own. That’s more than the combined sum of LSU Alexandria, LSU Shreveport, LSU Eunice and LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research center economic output, all while maintaining its self-sufficiency by not taking state funding or student fees.
“We are proud to know our work within athletics makes such a positive impact on Louisiana, and we take seriously our responsibility, as one part of a larger institution, to advance the vision, values, and mission of this great University,” said Athletic Director Scott Woodward in a press release following the news.
Impact by region
Some regions of Louisiana benefit more than others from LSU’s economic output, the most obvious being the capital region home to the university’s main campus, and the greater New Orleans area due to LSU Health. The southwest region of the state benefited the least, home to Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis parishes.
The Economics & Policy Research Group published a similar analysis of LSU’s economic impact back in 2017, arriving at the number $5.1 billion, about $1 billion less than the $6.1 billion generated this last year. However, it’s worth noting that when adjusted for inflation, the two reports arrive at roughly the same number.
With the Economics & Policy Research Group recently receiving approval from the Louisiana Board of Regents to become a center as opposed to a group, more interesting studies on LSU’s impact may be coming.
“As LSU maintains its position as a top ranked national public university, the university and its regional campuses also continue to make excellent strides in providing the state of Louisiana with an educated and qualified future workforce to meet the needs of businesses around the state,” the group said, with its eyes toward the future.
Correction: The third to last paragraph in the original version of this article erroneously stated the economic impact was $6.2 billion and the difference from the 2017 figure was $1.1 billion. These have been corrected to $6.1 billion and 1 billion.
