A study conducted by two economics professors at North Carolina A&T State University has found that an N.C. A&T degree is worth more than $1 million over a graduate’s lifetime. A&T graduates in 2017-18 can count on lifetime earnings totaling $4.7 billion, which includes $2.1 billion directly attributable to their N.C. A&T degree, the report said.
Other highlights from the analysis conducted by Alfredo A. Romero Aguirre, associate professor of economics, and Cephas Naanwaab, assistant professor of economics, include:
- Between 2012-13, when economic impact was last measured, and 2017-18, A&T added nearly 2,000 students and 340 more graduates each year.
- A&T was responsible for 10,265 jobs in the Piedmont Triad, and total labor income of $409 million.
- North Carolina A&T generates $16 of economic activity for every dollar of investment from the State of North Carolina.
“As a public, land grant university, we have a special obligation to the people of this state, and this new analysis details the significance of our efforts in fulfilling that expectation,” said Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. in a statement.
“As part of the $1.5 billion impact, for instance, we’re responsible for nearly 12,000 jobs and $70 million in state and local taxes. That makes A&T not only an outstanding research university, but a strong economic catalyst for Guilford County, the Piedmont Triad and the state of North Carolina.”
Drawn from 2017-18 data, the university said its impact is $500 million more than when measured using 2012-13 numbers, owing to North Carolina A&T’s growth in enrollment, workforce, spending and construction.
While the $1.5-billion impact is mostly concentrated in Guilford County and the Piedmont Triad, it reaches across all of North Carolina. A&T, for instance, has Agricultural Extension offices in half of the state’s counties, online undergraduate and graduate programs that serve learners across North Carolina and draws students from 75 counties.
Its research and development efforts serve businesses and organizations across the state, and as America’s largest historically black university now for the seventh consecutive year, its faculty often tackle problems and issues of major concern to North Carolina’s African American community.