Office of Public Affairs

Community Relations

10/2/2009

Grow by Degrees Coalition Hosts Summit, Releases Economic Survey

From: Public Affairs

Grow by Degrees, a coalition of business, community, education, and economic development leaders and organizations from throughout Virginia, hosted the Virginia Summit on Economic Competitiveness and Higher Education on Thursday, Oct. 1, in Richmond where they released the results of a study on higher education's impact on Virginia's economy.

According to the study, for every $1 the state spends on higher education, $13.31 is generated in economic activity. Further, for every $1 the Commonwealth spends on higher education, $1.39 flows back to the state in increased tax revenue. For more details about the survey, click here.

The summit was designed to draw attention to “the importance of higher education to state economic development efforts,” according to a coalition release. Both the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidates addressed the summit.

Grow By Degrees is a campaign initiated by the Virginia Business Higher Education Council to promote economic growth through high-impact investment and innovation in Virginia’s public colleges, universities and community colleges. Grow by Degrees lists seven policy priorities for the campaign, among them awarding 70,000 more higher education degrees over the next 10 years.

# # #