MCC's Impact on Iredell County

Mitchell Community College (MCC) is an important component in the economy of Iredell County. The benefits of a robust local economy translate into job and investment opportunities, increased business revenues, greater availability of public funds, and an eased tax burden, according to an economic study by the North Carolina Community College System.

MITCHELL STIMULATES THE LOCAL ECONOMY

• MCC had operating expenses of $14 million in fiscal 2003, and spent $10 million (69%) of this in the Iredell County service area to purchase supplies and pay salaries, wages, and benefits (i.e., earnings).

• MCC activities encourage new businesses, assist existing businesses, and create long-term economic growth. The college enhances worker skills and provides customized training to existing businesses and industries. It is estimated that the present-day Iredell County service area work force embodies over 784,000 credit and non-credit hours of past and present MCC training.

• MCC skills embodied in the present-day work force increase the output of industries in the Iredell County service area economy where the former students are employed by $126 million.

• A Mitchell education increases earnings of current and former students in the Iredell County service area by $43 million directly, and by another $27 million indirectly in fiscal 2003.

• MCC employs 159 full-time and 289 part-time faculty and staff. MCC paid faculty and staff wages, salaries, and benefits of $9 million in fiscal 2003.

• For every $1 MCC pays in earnings, there is an additional $0.34 in earnings generated off campus in the Iredell County Service Area economy—this is the commonly known multiplier effect.

MITCHELL LEVERAGES TAX PAYER DOLLARS

• State and local government allocated $9 million in support of MCC in fiscal 2003. For every dollar appropriated by state and local government, MCC’s spending alone generated $1.32 in earnings in the Iredell County Service Area.

• For every dollar appropriated by the state and local government in fiscal 2003, student earnings will increase by an average of $.89 per year, every year through the rest of their working lives. Likewise, for every state dollar appropriated, the Iredell County Service Area will see social savings of $0.24 per year, every year (i.e., reduced incarceration and health care expenditures, reduced expenditures on unemployment and welfare, and reduced absenteeism.)

MITCHELL GENERATES A RETURN ON INVESTMENT

• State and local government support for MCC in fiscal 2003 will be fully recovered in 6.5 years, in the form of higher tax receipts (from increased student wages) and avoided costs (e.g., from reduced public expenditures on incarceration.)

• A Mitchell education will increase tax receipts. State and local government will see a rate of return of 20.3% on their fiscal 2003 support for MCC.

MITCHELL INCREASES INDIVIDUAL’S EARNING POTENTIAL

• A total of 12,744 credit and non-credit students attended Mitchell in fiscal 2003, 69% of whom were employed full-or part-time while attending.

• As many as 73% of the students stay in the region initially after they leave the college and contribute to the local economy. Their continued contribution is measured after accounting for outmigration, retirement, and death.

• Studies demonstrate that education increases lifetime earnings. The average annual earnings of a student with a one-year certificate are $25,522, or 81.4% more than someone without a high school diploma or GED, and 15.5% more than a student with a high school diploma. The average earnings of someone with an associate degree are $29,874, or 112.3% more than someone without a high school diploma or GED, and 35.2% more than a student with a high school diploma or GED.

• After leaving the college, the average MCC student will spend 31 years in the work force. The student who leaves with a twoyear college degree will earn $254,503 more than someone with a high school diploma or GED.

• Over the next 31 years in the work force, the average MCC student’s discounted lifetime earnings (i.e., future values expressed in present value terms) will increase $4.13 for every education dollar invested (in the form of tuition, fees, books, and foregone earnings from employment.)

• Students enjoy an attractive 19.9% rate of return on their MCC educational investment, and recover all costs (including wages foregone while attending MCC) in 6.8 years.