The economic impact of the University of Northern Iowa on the state of Iowa

This paper measures the economic impact of the University of Northern Iowa on the state of Iowa following the incremental approach which is the current academic thinking on quantifying a university\u27s impact on its state. The methodology established by Bluestone (1993) and Elliot et. al. (1988) serves as the basis for this study. This paper attempts to answer the question: how much money would the state lose if the university were dissolved and the funding diverted to other areas? The economic impact can be measured on an incremental tally of the economic base and also on a skill-based approach. This paper takes a conservative, definite estimate, therefore, the economic base is stressed with no weight being given to the skill-based effects. Following this approach, I estimate UNl\u27s economic impact on the state of Iowa at almost $48 million for the 1995-1996 fiscal year. State appropriations to UNI for the year were approximately $71 million. While this may appear as a loss for Iowa, the social gain to the state from UNI\u27s existence should be taken into account along with the knowledge that the $48 million is a conservative estimat