Cal Poly has a $2.6 billion economic impact on SLO, Santa Barbara counties, new study says

Cal Poly now has a $2.6 billion annual economic impact on the Central Coast’s economy, according to a new study.

The study was conducted by REACH, the Central Coast economic action coalition, and Deloitte, a Canadian consulting firm. It measured the economic impact of Cal Poly in 2022, following up on a 2014 study that placed the university’s economic impact at $1.4 billion.

The new total represents an 85% increase over the 2014 economic impact.

Researchers found that university employees account for $576 million in economic impact, including $403 million in payroll, but the biggest boost comes from the university’s development of an educated regional workforce that accounts for $1.4 billion in human capital, according to the study.

Student spending accounts for $271 million in annual economic impact, while university capital expenditures add an average of $234 million.

Retired faculty and staff and faculty members living in the area boost the economy by another $83 million.

Spending from the university itself and visitors add tens of millions of dollars in additional economic impact.

However, researchers also found shortfalls in Cal Poly’s growth and room for improvement.

Cal Poly’s enrollment has fluctuated between 20,000 and 22,000 students since 2014, never breaking the 22,000 barrier due to a lack of housing stock, according to the study. Rent accounted for 43.1% of all student expenditures in 2022, which is up from 40% a decade ago, according to the study.

However, the study commended Cal Poly for making strides in building more on-campus housing and emphasized that “as students feel less pressure on the housing front, they’ll be able to spend more money on goods and services that have more trickle-down effects on the economy, such as non-housing services including arts, sports and other entertainment activities.”

The study also stressed that Cal Poly’s economic impact will “grow as enrollment capacity increases.”

The study forecasts that Cal Poly’s economic impact will grow 43% by 2034 accounting for $3.44 billion, the caveat being that Cal Poly would have to increase its enrollment capacity to 25,000 students.

The study highlighted the various businesses started by Cal Poly students through the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, creating 1,000 jobs in SLO and Santa Barbara counties and over $250 million in capital. Furthermore, the study draws a direct correlation between the more counseling the CIE does for students and the more jobs and businesses that are launched.