The Economic Effect of Urban Colleges on their Surrounding

Summary. Typical university impact studies in the US have focused on large institutions and their impact on an entire metropolitan region. We know little about the impact of small schools or the impact of a college on just its surrounding city or neighbourhood, despite recent interest in the relationship of colleges to city neighbourhood revitalisation. This article illustrates that, with two simple adjustments, the standard impact study can produce an estimate of a typical urban college’s economic effect matched to its surrounding community, rather than to the urban region as a whole. A case study using this approach found that even a small US college with a predominantly commuter population had a significant effect on the city in which it was located. Universities can be valuable contributors to a city’s economy. They are immobile insti-tutions fairly resistant to business cycle fluctu-ations, making them a steady presence in the community. They tend to attract revenue from outside the immediate area throug