wages would be lost to the region if the University were not here. Some unknown
but significant portion of ISU employees would likely secure employment in other
sections of the regional economy. An estimate of the proportion of faculty and
staff wages that would be “lost” to the area in the absence of the University is
calculated in the Impact Assessments section of this report.
While the present section of this report recognizes the logic of discounting the
expenditures made by faculty and staff households who would likely remain in the
area in the absence of the University, the total and more comprehensive impact
figure is used here.
Student Expenditures
Highlights
ISU student households spent an estimated $156 million in Bannock County
during the 1995-96 academic year.
Approach
Student expenditures were derived from the results of a questionnaire survey
that was distributed to randomly selected ISU students during the 1996-97 fall
semester; 611 questionnaires were completed and returned. For purposes of this
analysis, the responses were divided into three groups of interest:
dormitory residents
students who live off campus and within Bannock County and,
those who live outside of Bannock County.
The survey solicited information on student spending in several expenditure
categories. For each expenditure category, an average was calculated for each
student group, with null responses included as zero values in the aggregate sum.
The university-wide spending in each expense category for each student group was
then weighted by multiplying the corresponding survey average by the total
number of students at ISU in that group (i.e. 871 dormitory students, 6,236
local off-campus students or 5,138 out-of-area students, respectively).
Results
The measured impact of ISU student spending on the local economy is limited to
off-campus spending within Bannock County, therefore the spending excludes
monies paid to the University or to vendors and landlords outside of the Bannock
County area. Table 3 presents the total off-campus local spending in several
expenditure categories for each of the three student groups of interest.
The Housing expense category includes spending for rent, mortgage, home
insurance and furnishings except for dormitory students where off-campus
spending specifically does not include dormitory rent and would, therefor only
include spending for furnishings for that student group. Utility expenses
include costs for electricity, gas, telephone and cable services. The Education
expense category does not include tuition and is limited to spending for books
and supplies, including computers and their peripherals. Miscellaneous spending
includes clothing, general insurance, contributions, gifts and purchases that do
not fit into any of the other categories.
Dormitory Students
The average number of students residing in dormitories during the 1995-6
academic year was 871. This student group reported an average age of 25 years
and 31% indicated that, at the time of the survey, they were married. Only 12%
of this group indicated that they would be living in the Pocatello area if they
were not enrolled at the University. Consequently, a high proportion of this
group’s spending may be attributed to the University.
Dormitory students reported household spending of over $6.5 million annually or
approximately $7,486 per student household over a two-semester period not
including the summer months. The figure excludes tuition and dormitory fees, and
includes only purchases of consumable goods and services.
Over 30% of the dormitory student’s expenses are automobile related.
Miscellaneous expenses account for 25% while food (over and above the dormitory
meal plan) accounts for 21%. Housing costs were proportionately low for this
group because the dormitory rent payments were made to the University rather
than to local landlords and are consequently excluded from impact
considerations. Similarly most utility costs are included as part of the rent
and are also excluded, leaving Utilities to primarily consist of telephone and
cable costs.
Table 3: Annual ISU Student Expenditures for Academic Year
1995-96Expense TypeStudent TypeTotal
DormitoryLocalOut of Area
Housing$443,0007%$23,014,52327%$18,071,71628%$41,529,239
Utilities$110,5172%$8,055,7729%$7,997,09212%$16,163,381
Automobile Payments$1,068,35816%$6,187,6607%$4,580,1337%$11,836,151
Auto Operating
Expenses$967,62715%$6,633,8908%$3,751,8546%$11,353,370
Food$1,348,18021%$19,158,57222%$13,809,47721%$34,316,229
Education$100,1002%$4,445,8065%$2,612,1694%$7,158,076
Recreation$311,6775%$1,796,2072%$956,0471%$3,063,930
Medical$550,4958%$2,058,5292%$2,479,1854%$5,088,210
Miscellaneous$1,620,00525%$14,183,32317%$10,077,23916%$25,880,566
TOTAL$6,519,959 $85,534,282 $64,334,912 $156,389,153
Local Off-campus Students
The 6,236 students in this group reside off-campus but within Bannock County.
Approximately 36% indicated that they owned their living quarters while 50%
rented and the remainder reported living with family or friends. The average age
of the students in this group was 30 years with 50% indicating that they were
married. Over 57% indicated that they would live here if not enrolled at the
University.
They reported a local total annual spending of $85.5 million, which averages
$13,716 per student household, the greatest per student spending of the three
groups. Understandably, the largest spending category for this group is Housing
which accounts for 27% of its total expenditures. This is followed by Food (22%)
and Miscellaneous items at 17%.
Nearly two-thirds of this student group consists of permanent area households
with one or more members currently attending ISU on either a part-time or
full-time basis. An estimate of the proportion of this group’s total area
expenditures that would be “lost” to the area in the absence of the University
is calculated in the Impacts Assessment section of this report.
Out-of-Area Students
This student group consists of 5,138 ISU students who reside off campus and
outside of Bannock County. The average age of this group was 35 years with 66%
reporting that they were married at the time of the survey. Approximately 60%
owned their homes, 25% rented and the remainder reported living with family or
friends.
Members of this group reported a total annual area spending of $64.3 million or
about $12,521 per student household.
The proportion of those consumption purchases made in Bannock county, as opposed
to the neighboring communities where they reside, is unknown, but is presumed to
be not more than 25%.
Their spending habits were approximately the same as the local non-dormitory
students. Combining the spending of the two non-dormitory groups yields the
graph in Figure3, which illustrates the representative category spending of
ISU’s non-dormitory student households.
While the University cannot claim to have directly “caused” the entire $156
million in consumer purchases made by its students and their entire households,
it is important to recognize that a considerable number of area residents attend
Idaho State University and have purchasing patterns and habits influenced by
their student affiliation.
While the present section of this report recognizes the logic of discounting the
expenditures made by student households who would likely remain in the area in
the absence of the University, the total and more comprehensive impact figure is
used here.
Visitor Expenditures
Highlights
ISU attracts nearly quarter million visitors from outside the Pocatello area
to its many events, facilities and programs.
Out-of-area visitors spend an estimated $7 million annually on local
purchases of lodging, food, automobile-related purchases and other retail
items.
Approach
Visitors are drawn to the ISU campus to attend athletic and cultural events,
attend conferences and workshops, and to visit facilities like Holt Arena, the
Idaho Museum of Natural History, the Planetarium and the Bookstore. Other
visitors conduct business on campus, including prospective students and faculty
who are being recruited or interviewed. Still others are out-of-area personal
visitors to ISU faculty, staff and students.
The number of visitors to the ISU campus has been estimated separately for the
two visitor categories reported in Table 4. Recreational, Educational and
Business Visitors include attendees and visitors to specific ISU facilities or
sponsored events. Personal Visitors include only out-of-area visitors to
faculty, staff and students reported in surveys of those populations.
In order to obtain an estimate of the number of Recreational, Educational and
Business Visitors, each facility was polled for its attendance figures for the
1995-96 academic year. Officials representing each facility also provided an
estimate of the percentage of their attendees who originated outside of the
Pocatello-Chubbuck area. ISU’s major facilities and programs include Holt Arena,
Reed Gymnasium, the Student Union, the Idaho Museum of Natural History and the
Planetarium operated by the Physics Department. Performances held at Theatre ISU
and Goranson Hall were also included, as were visitors to the ISU Bookstore.
The number of personal visitors was estimated separately for students and
faculty/staff households. Twenty percent of the Personal Visitors were assumed
to purchase lodging for an overnight stay, based on results of the student
survey.
Table 4: Visitors to the ISU Campus by Sponsoring Department
(1995-96)SponsorAll VisitorsOut of Area VisitorsArea
(Persons)(Persons)(Visitor Days)Expenditures
Holt Arena Events433,350220,283220,283$6,619,489
Student Union Events222,81756,94869,415$2,217,115
ISU Bookstore60,0003,0001,500$39,000
Idaho Museum of Nat’l History patrons31,39020,40424,484$768,804
Continuing Education events13,2621,4685,170$483,395
Physics Department & Planetarium8,0005,8005,800$150,800
Theatre ISU patrons6,631734734$19,084
School of Applied Technology visitors3,387868964$27,921
Music Department events3,000600600$15,600
Miscellaneous ISU departments2,3221,3132,417$117,660
Visitors to ISU Students130,847130,847130,847$4,108,596
Visitors to ISU Faculty & Staff8,6538,6538,653$271,718
An estimate of the percent of out-of-area visitors who purchased overnight
lodging was made for each facility or program within the Recreational,
Educational and Business Visitors category. Lodging was estimated at $27 per
night per visitor, assuming double occupancy and the average Pocatello room rate
of $54 for 1996. Day visitors were assumed to expend a conservative $26 per day,
excluding event specific admissions. For overnight visitors the estimated $53
per day in area expenditures is consistent with other estimates for non-business
travelers2.
While it is tempting to sum the expenditures and number of visitors in each
category of Table 4, such a summary total is not recommended because an overlap
of visitors across the various categories would vastly overstate the number of
actual persons visiting the ISU campus. For example, a typical out-of-area
visitor might be included as the Personal Visitor of a student, and attend an
ISU athletic event or concert while taking advantage of noncommercial lodging
with friends or relatives.
Only out-of-area visitors are assessed as having a direct economic impact on the
Pocatello economy. While the number of local visitors is significant, and their
recreational and other spending is very real, especially to local establishments
and merchants, their spending is assumed to already be a part of the local
economy. In the absence of the ISU facility or event, they are assumed to make a
comparable expenditure elsewhere in the Pocatello economy. Their expenditures
cannot, therefore, be claimed exclusively by ISU as a part of its economic
impact on the region.
Expenditure Patterns
The Holt Arena attracts more out-of-area visitors than any other ISU facility.
More than 400,000 persons attended events held there during the 1995-96 academic
year. An estimated 220,283 of those attendees are from outside of the Pocatello
area, with about 90% of that number assumed to be purchasers of commercial
lodging. Major events such as the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo attract
out-of-area visitors who remain in the area for several days, thus heightening
their economic impact.
The Pond Student Union hosts numerous conferences, workshops, and other programs
attended by outsiders as well as ISU faculty, staff, and students. Of the nearly
quarter million attendees of its programs, about 56,000 are estimated to be
out-of-area visitors. A small proportion report staying overnight, with a total
estimated area impact of $2.2 million annually.
The Idaho Museum of Natural History is visited by more than 20,000 out-of-area
patrons annually, with direct local expenditures of $768,804. The Office of
Continuing Education sponsors programs that attract an estimated 1,468
participants from outside of the area, with each staying an average of 3 days,
and representing a direct local impact of $483,395. Performances held at Theatre
ISU and Goranson Hall attracted an estimated 1,334 out-of-area patrons, while
the ISU Planetarium attracted about 5,800 nonlocal visitors.
Student recruitment, including recruitment of students to the School of Applied
Technology, is responsible for over 800 out-of-area visitors each year. Other
significant categories of visitors with business on the campus include
salespersons, accrediting teams and athletic team recruiting. Nearly 3,000
nonlocal visitors and $145,000 in direct impact can be attributed to those
visitors.
About 130,000 individuals are estimated to visit the area as the personal
visitors of ISU faculty, staff and students. The typical student reports ten
such visitors per year, a seemingly high figure, but consistent with visitor
studies conducted by universities comparable to ISU2. Out-of-area visitors to
ISU faculty and staff number about 8,653. Combined, these personal visitors
contribute more than $4.2 million into our local economy. As indicated above
(see Approach), a high percentage of Personal Visitors are included as attendees
and participants of various ISU events and programs, and should not be
considered as additional to the visitors specific to those facilities or events.
Impact Assessment
Highlights
Approximately 9% of all area economic activity are in some way related to
ISU.
The State of Idaho’s annual investment of $102 million stimulates at least
$191 million in economic activity within southeastern Idaho, for an annual
return of 87%.
Indirect and Induced Impacts
Purchasing patterns for the University, as well as expenditure patterns for its
students, faculty, staff and campus visitors were presented in detail in
previous sections of this report. Approximately $215 million in direct
expenditures are attributed to ISU’s presence using this approach.
As those monies are expended in various sectors of the area economy they serve
to stimulate additional business activity (induced effects) and additional
household spending (indirect effects) on the part of those businesses and
households benefiting from the direct expenditures. These effects combine to
produce a “multiplier effect” of total spending.
Multipliers for local institutional purchases (1.391), visitor expenditures
(1.366), household expenditures of locally resident faculty and staff (1.265),
and for dormitory students (1.260) and nondorm students (1.364) were generated
by the Regional Science Research Institute’s Input-Output model for Bannock
County. This model makes use of industry interaction data across county lines to
generate highly reliable estimates
An estimated 8 full and part time jobs, represented by $1 million of business
activity, and a wage proportion (.263), were then used to generate an estimate
of the number of full and part time jobs and the amount of wages and salaries
represented by the induced business activity.
Table 5 identifies the direct, indirect, and total impacts of each of the four
sources of economic impact under review. It identifies an additional $76.2
million in multiplier effects generated by the direct infusion of $215.7 million