INTRODUCTION
Texas A&M University–Texarkana (A&M–Texarkana), established in 1971, has today grown to serve 2,515 credit and 190 non-credit students. The university is led by Dr. Emily F. Cutrer, President. The university’s service region, for the purpose of this report, is referred to as the Texarkana Service Region and consists of Bowie, Camp, Cass, Marion, Morris, and Titus Counties in Texas and Little River, Miller, and Sevier Counties in Arkansas. While A&M–Texarkana affects the region in a variety of ways, many of them difficult to quantify, this study is concerned with considering its economic benefits. The university naturally helps students achieve their individual potential and develop the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to have fulfilling and prosperous careers. However, A&M–Texarkana impacts the Texarkana Service Region beyond influencing the lives of students.
A&M–Texarkana impacts the Texarkana Service Region beyond influencing the lives of students.
The university’s program offerings supply employers with workers to make their businesses more productive. The university, its day-to-day operations, its construction activities, and the expenditures of its visitors and students support the regional economy through the output and employment generated by regional vendors. The benefits created by the university extend as far as the state treasury in terms of the increased tax receipts and decreased public sector costs generated by students across the state. This report assesses the impact of A&M–Texarkana as a whole on the regional economy and the benefits generated by the university for students, taxpayers, and society. The approach is twofold. We begin with an economic impact analysis of the university on the Texarkana Service Region economy. To derive results, we rely on a specialized Multi-Regional Social Accounting Matrix (MR-SAM) model to calculate the added income created in the Texarkana Service Region economy as a result of increased consumer spending and the added knowledge, skills, and abilities of students. Results of the economic impact analysis are broken out according to the following impacts: 1) impact of the university’s day-to-day operations, 2) impact of the university’s construction spending, 3) impact of visitor
Executive summary
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