Study Shows Taxpayers Reap Huge ROI for Funding Coast Community Colleges

A new OrangeCounty study, The Economic Contribution of the Orange County Community College Districts, completed by Idaho-based CCbenefits Inc., reveals quantitatively just how the colleges within the Coast Community College District contribute to the social and economic well being of the communities we serve. OrangeCoast, Golden West and CoastlineCommunity Colleges enrich the lives of students and increase their lifetime incomes. In addition, our colleges contribute to the local economy of OrangeCounty in both social and economic areas.

Economic Benefits for Californians

  • College participation benefits California taxpayers and the fiscal balance of the state, including increased tax revenue and reduced expenditures on welfare and prisons.
  • The Coast Community Colleges annually contribute $74.9 million in labor and non-labor income to OrangeCounty.
  • A Californian whose education stops at a high school diploma is nearly nine times more likely to spend time in jail than a Californian with a college degree.
  • For every credit earned by our colleges’ students, the state and local community will see social savings amounting to some $20 per year, including savings associated with improved health, lower crime costs, and reduced welfare and unemployment.

Return on Taxpayer’s Investment

  • Altogether, the economy inOrangeCounty owes roughly $2.9 billion of its current labor and non-labor income to the past and present efforts of OCC, GWC and OCC.
  • For every credit earned by our students, the state and local community will see social savings amounting to $20 per year, including savings associated with improved health, lower crime costs, and reduced welfare and unemployment.
  • State and local government allocated around $154.9 million in support of our colleges in 2004. For every dollar appropriated by state and local government, taxpayers will see a cumulative return of $3.92 over the next 30 years. That’s a 15.2% return on investment!

CCCD Increases Student’s Earning Power

  • A total of 63,916 credit and non-credit students attended the district colleges in 2003-04 with as many as 73% staying in the region initially after they left college, contributing to our local economy.
  • The average annual earnings of our students with a one-year certificate are $34,536. That’s 81% more than someone without a high school diploma, and 16% more than a high school graduate.
  • The average earnings of one of our graduates with an Associate Degree are $40,438, or 35% more than a student with a high school diploma or GED.

About the Study

In this study, CCbenefits Inc. applied a comprehensive economic model they developed with funding from the Association for Community College Trustees (ACCT). The study tracks four types of benefits: Regional Economic Benefits, Student Perspective, Taxpayer Perspective and Investment Analysis. The economic impact model has been subjected to peer review and field-tested on over 500 different community and technical colleges throughout the U.S. and Canada. Model results are based on solid economic theory, carefully drawn functional relationships and a wealth of national and local education-related data.