STARKVILLE — From Extension offices in every county to partnerships with industry across the state, Mississippi State University reaches far beyond its campus.
A new study released by the university Wednesday quantified that reach, finding the university generated an estimated $3.9 billion in economic impact in 2024.
That means for every tax dollar invested at MSU, the state sees a $25 return – an impact MSU President Mark E. Keenum said underscores the university’s role as a core economic driver in Mississippi.
“Mississippi State does more to uplift and move our state forward than any other entity in the state, and it makes me very proud of this institution and the role that we are playing in helping grow our economy (and) create jobs for our citizens,” he said Wednesday during a press conference with other university leaders.
Completed by MSU’s National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center, the study is the first update on the university’s economic impact since 2019, which estimated MSU’s economic impact to be $1.8 billion annually. The newest findings are based on an analysis of MSU’s employment and operations spending, student and visitor spending, research operations, alumni employment as well as engagement activities.
With 42,000 living and working in the state, the study found MSU alumni have generated more than $1 billion in wages. The university’s activity sustains more than 80,000 jobs statewide, meaning roughly one out of every 15 jobs is supported by MSU, according to the study.
On campus, student and visitor spending gives the local economy a boost. The study found student spending generated a $41.6 million economic impact last year while visitors added another $24.2 million.
The university’s employment and operations spending resulted in $653 million in wages and earning, along with $74.4 million in state and local tax revenue.
“I truly cannot believe that there’s a better investment for tax dollars and the impact that they can have on this state than what is invested here at Mississippi State and what we’re able to return back to the citizens of our great state,” Keenum said.
Wide-ranging research, wide-ranging impact
MSU’s research is one of its largest economic drivers, generating $320 million in income for Mississippians and $33.1 million in state and local tax revenue. While it can be difficult to quantify the financial impact of some efforts, Vice President for Research and Economic Development Julie Jordan said the applications of MSU’s research are broad.
“Some of those industries that we can’t sometimes calculate in terms of dollars and cents into impact are working with Ingall’s Shipways to improve worker safety,” she said.
MSU researchers are embedded across state industries to help improve the state workforce, from reskilling workers to improving manufacturing processes.
But the research happening on campus also carries a large impact. In the Athlete Engineering Institute, for example, engineering and kinesiology researchers study human movement to build prototypes for products designed to enhance performance and prevent injury across sectors.
From a compression arm sleeve designed to track wrist and elbow movement to a motion computer system that can track physical rehabilitation progress on a treadmill, the applications for the research are far-reaching, Research Engineer David Saucier told The Dispatch.
“A lot of our philosophy is everyone can be an athlete,” he said. “So beyond just the sports base, we look at industry, we look at military (and) tactical and try to kind of apply the technologies to all those different sectors.”
Broad applications and a wide reach are also drivers behind the Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine’s economic impact last year, division Vice President Keith Coble said Wednesday.
The division – which includes MSU Extension, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Forest and Wildlife Research Center and the College of Veterinary Medicine – accounts for the largest share of MSU’s $3.9 billion impact, contributing $1.7 billion to Mississippi’s economy through research, extension services and outreach initiatives.
“I think the thing that so many people miss is the integration that we have with the research extension and teaching in our comprehensive departments,” Coble said. “… If you add up the research farms, the research forests, the diagnostic labs that we have, you’re going to find that, in addition to the offices, we’ve got 50 other locations around the state of Mississippi to engage with citizens of the state.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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