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The Coast Community College District is a strong investment for students, taxpayers, and society at large, confirmed a recent study released by the Orange County Regional Consortium.
A total economic impact of $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2020-21 was generated by operations, student spending, and alumni impact from the three colleges – Coastline, Golden West, and Orange Coast. This infusion of economic activity supported more than 21,000 local jobs. The Board of Trustees reviewed these and other statistics in their meeting of Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
"Every time we walk on campus, trustees know that the colleges are making a huge difference in the lives of students and the generational trajectories of families," said Board President Mary Hornbuckle. "This report demonstrates the huge scale of these individual student-by-student successes when combined across all our communities."
Future Coast District alumni were by far the biggest winners, with a cumulative present value of $1.4 billion in increased earnings for 2020-21 students over their working lives. This is a premium of 27 percent over high school graduates' lifetime earnings. At the same time, local investments also pay dividends for local governments in the form of higher revenue. The private sector and society as a whole benefit in the form of added business income and avoided social costs.
"We hear the rhetoric about the worth of a college degree, yet the data continues to show that without question attending college is one of the best decisions a person can make in setting themselves up for a high-paying, quality job and career," said Chancellor Whitney Yamamura. "Public funding for community colleges is also, hands down, one of the smartest investments that we as a society can make in our own future."
The full report, along with an executive summary and fact sheet, are available at cccd.edu/aboutus/economiccontribution.html.
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