![\"Students'](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-09-05-02-grove-city-needs-its-college-1.jpg\")
The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania (AICUP) published a study estimating that Grove City College accounts for $176 million of the state economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study found the College supports 808 state jobs through either employment or indirect jobs that suppliers, vendors and contractors fulfill. It also recorded the college’s impact on the service, retail and medical sectors. In total, the college provides $13.6 million in tax revenue to local and state governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Federal Reserve classifies colleges like Grove City College as anchor institutions, which are especially important to their local economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You want a college as a neighbor, because schools make good neighbors,” AICUP president Thomas Foley said. “Many people might not realize this, but these colleges collectively contribute $1.5 billion in local and state taxes, and that’s (mainly) used locally to support police, fill potholes and beautify parks.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study used the IMPLAN economic database and data from Pennsylvania colleges to determine their economic contributions. The database uses county, state, ZIP code and region-specialized federal economic statistics to calculate the economic activity of organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AICUP also collected data of its own, either college-reported or found from a secondary source. The data the organization gathered include colleges’ employee pay and benefits, operating and capital expenditures, visitor numbers and spending, number and types of students and their spending habits and charitable giving and volunteerism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to AICUP, Grove City College and other northwest Pennsylvania private colleges and universities generate $1.2 billion for the economy, $61 million of which goes to local and state taxes, and they support more than 8,000 jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If a food service truck makes 10 deliveries a day, and one of those deliveries is to a school, you can say that 1\/10th of the driver’s job is supported by the school,” Foley said. “So, on a larger scale, when the impact study found that over 195,000 jobs in Pennsylvania are supported and sustained by these 80-plus AICUP schools, that doesn’t mean that 195,000 people teach at these schools, but it does mean that many people have a livelihood supported by these schools in a significant way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AICUP reported that member schools account for 195,000 Pennsylvania jobs. Although not that many people work for those schools, Foley suggests that the schools sustain the livelihood of about that many people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce agreed with the study’s findings that show the importance of the college to the local community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“As a large employer, (the college creates) a substantial economic impact by providing jobs to many of our friends and neighbors, while also bringing students, families and alumni into our area who in turn have a positive impact on our businesses by shopping, dining, staying in hotels and enjoying our various amenities,” Beth Black, the executive director of the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce, told Grove City College in August. “Beyond all of this, Grove City College is a good neighbor that supports local organizations, events and businesses throughout the year financially, with volunteers and interns, as well as equipping graduates to be desirable employees.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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