Economic Impact Summary

The Economic Value of BCTC

Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) creates a significant positive impact on the business community and generates a return on investment to its major stakeholder groups—students, taxpayers, and society. Using a two-pronged approach that involves an economic impact analysis and an investment analysis, this study calculates the benefits received by each of these groups. Results of the analysis reflect fiscal year (FY) 2022-23.

Economic impact analysis

In FY 2022-23, BCTC added $417.6 million in income to the Bluegrass Region* economy, a value approximately equal to 0.9% of the region’s total gross regional product (GRP). Expressed in terms of jobs, BCTC’s impact supported 5,645 jobs. For perspective, the activities of BCTC and its students support one out of every 89 jobs in the Bluegrass Region.

Operations Spending Impact

• BCTC employed 1,004 full-time and part-time faculty and staff. Payroll amounted to $35.2 million, much of which was spent in the region for groceries, mortgage and rent payments, dining out, and other household expenses. The college spent another $26.1 million on day-to-day expenses related to facilities, supplies, and professional services.
• The net impact of the college’s operations spending added $45.3 million in income to the regional economy in FY 2022-23.

Student Spending Impact

• Around 19% of students attending BCTC originated from outside the region. Some of these students relocated to the Bluegrass Region. In addition, some in-region students, referred to as retained students, would have left the Bluegrass Region for other educational opportunities if not for BCTC. These relocated and retained students spent money on groceries, mortgage and rent payments, and other living expenses at regional businesses.
• The expenditures of relocated and retained students in FY 2022-23 added $10.0 million in income to the Bluegrass Region economy.

Alumni Impact

• Over the years, students have studied at BCTC and entered or re-entered the workforce with newly-acquired knowledge and skills. Today, thousands of these former students are employed in the Bluegrass Region.
• The net impact of BCTC’s former students currently employed in the regional workforce amounted to $362.2 million in added income in FY 2022-23.

Investment Analysis

Student Perspective

• BCTC’s FY 2022-23 students paid a present value of $25.8 million to cover the cost of tuition, fees, supplies, and interest on student loans. They also forwent a value of $28.0 million in time and money had they been working instead of attending college.
• In return for their investment, students will receive a cumulative present value of $308.6 million in increased earnings over their working lives. This translates to a return of $5.70 in higher future earnings for every dollar students invest in their education. Students’ average annual rate of return is 21.3%.

Taxpayer Perspective

• Taxpayers provided BCTC with $23.4 million of funding in FY 2022-23. In return, they will benefit from added tax revenue, stemming from students’ higher lifetime earnings and increased business output, amounting to $102.9 million. A reduced demand for government-funded services in Kentucky will add another $7.9 million in benefits to taxpayers.
• Total taxpayer benefits amount to $110.8 million, the present value sum of the added tax revenue and public sector savings. For every dollar of public money invested in BCTC, taxpayers will receive $4.70 in return, over the course of students’ working lives. The average annual rate of return for taxpayers is 11.4%.

Social Perspective

• In FY 2022-23, Kentucky invested $100.0 million to support BCTC. In turn, the Kentucky economy will grow by $1.1 billion, over the course of students’ working lives. Society will also benefit from $29.7 million of public and private sector savings.
• For every dollar invested in BCTC in FY 2022-23, people in Kentucky will receive $11.10 in return, for as long as BCTC’s FY 2022-23 students remain active in the state workforce.

*For the purposes of this analysis, the Bluegrass Region is comprised of Anderson, Boyle, Clark, Estill, Fayette, Franklin, Garrard, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Powell, Scott, and Woodford Counties.

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