LEWISBURG — According to a study it commissioned, Bucknell University contributed $207 million to Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties in 2009-10.

For estimated contribution to the entire state, that number jumps to $263 million.

Bucknell’s position as a regional economic powerhouse comes, in part, from its standing as one of the most exclusive and expensive universities in the nation.

Bucknell was ranked the sixth most expensive school in the country for the 2010-11 school year in a U.S. News & World Report story last week.

In fact, the school’s $42,342 tuition is ahead of that at schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton.

Now, that’s only the cost of tuition. Once the comprehensive fees — such as room and board — are added in, Bucknell falls to 28 for 2010-11, according to a report by website Campusgrotto.com. The total cost would be $52,050.

The difference suggests Bucknell is a relative bargain as it does not tack on the same amount of fees as do others.

“It’s a big distinction,” said Pete Mackey, Bucknell’s vice president of communication. “Ultimately, a student at a residential college like Bucknell would be paying a full fee.”

So what connection, if any, is there between the amount Bucknell takes in annually from its 3,500 undergraduate students and 150 graduate students, and the amount spent by the school, its faculty, staff and students in the community?

“Colleges and universities are clearly a significant economic factor,” said Dave Myers, Bucknell’s executive director for government and foundation relations. “It’s an asset to have one.”



Economic impact

The economic impact study was performed by Matthew Rousu, an associate professor of economics at Susquehanna University and expert in economic development research.

Standard multipliers from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis were used to determine the resulting economic impact, a Bucknell news release stated.

It is the first scientific look at the economic impact of Bucknell on the state and region, Myers said. It’s likely the school will perform a similar study every few years to continue to monitor how it’s doing, he said.

The relationship between the school and the community, as well as the school’s growing interest in regional economic development, are important.

“Other institutions are doing the same,” Myers said. “We want to know what are the consequences of Bucknell being here.”

Bucknell is one of the Valley’s largest employers, with 1,160 full-time faculty and staff. During the 2009-10 school year, the university had a payroll of more than $77 million and paid an additional $28.9 million in benefits, including medical and retirement benefits, and $2.6 million in student wages, the report stated.

Using private and public funds, it also engaged in $11 million in construction projects over the past four years, the news release stated.

The study also found 160,000 visitors came to Bucknell during 2009-10, with an economic impact of nearly $15 million for the six-county region and more than $9.7 million for the rest of the state.

“It’s not just how much any visitor was spending when they come here,” Myers said. “It’s what visits occurred by Bucknell being here that would not have occurred if Bucknell was not here.”



Tuition, room and board

Students spent an estimated $14 million on non-university purchases, according to the report. In other words, the cost of tuition and comprehensive fees are not included as economic impact in the study.

But that money is what powers the university, Mackey said.

“Most of our budget is dependent on tuition,” he said.

And though the cost to go to Bucknell has crept up over the past few years, it is not by much in comparison to the rest of private schools in the country. It was No. 7 in 2009-10 ($40,594) and No. 9 ($39,434) in 2008-09.

But Mackey said the school works hard to keep its costs stable.

“It’s by deliberate effort of the university to keep the comprehensive fee down as much possible,” he said.

The school also is highly selective.

For the coming school year, there were about 7,800 applications received, but only 925 spaces available, Mackey said. Meanwhile, the yield rate — the number of students who accept Bucknell’s offer to enroll — is 40 percent.

That 40 percent is high as compared with other private schools in the country, he said. In fact, there are only about 20 out of the almost 1,600 private schools that have that kind of yield rate, he said.

And once the students are in, they’re given a lot of support when it comes to assistance.

About $40 million is budgeted each year for financial aid, Mackey said, and about 62 percent of students at the school receive some sort of help.

The assistance is ongoing. During the recent economic downturn, the school’s financial aid counselors contacted parents and students, stating that if their financial circumstances have changed as a result of the Great Recession, the school would work with them.

Though he didn’t have exact numbers available, Mackey said a number of students went on new financial aid programs, and others had their existing financial aid adjusted.

“We weren’t going to let the economic downturn interfere with our students’ education,” he said.

The university’s cost also seems to be worth it for most students. The school sees 95 percent of its freshmen return for their sophomore year. The number of students who enroll as freshmen and earn their degree from Bucknell is about 90 percent.

In other words, the cost equals the benefit, he said.

“We’re one of the most competitive and selective universities in the country,” Mackey said. “Our aim is to give the kind of experience that our students want and value.”

And without the benefits to students to draw them in, there would be less benefit to the community, school officials said.

“It’s something we’re going to want to monitor over time,” Myers said. “We want to evaluate how we’re doing.”

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