Preface

Emsi is a leading provider of economic impact studies and labor market data to educational institutions, workforce planners, and regional developers in the U.S. and internationally. Since 2000, Emsi has completed over 2,200 economic impact studies for educational institutions in three countries. Along the way, we have worked to continuously update and improve our methodologies to ensure that they conform to best practices.

When comparing economic impact study results to previous years, there are three areas that can cause differences in results. The first is a change in university data. The second is a change in data Emsi gathers from external sources such as the Census Bureau. The third is a change in methodology as better practices and data become available. The differences in results are usually a product of changes in all three of these areas; however, some changes may have more of an effect than others.

This model, as with previous versions, has various external data inputs which reflect the most current economic activity and data. These data include (but are not limited to): the student discount rate; the taxpayer discount rate; the consumer savings rate; the consumer price index; national health expenditures; state and local industry earnings as a percent of total industry earnings; income tax brackets and sales tax by state; and unemployment, migration, and life tables. All data sets are maintained annually.

In addition, since the previous study, we updated the source of migration data to the Internal Revenue Service. This data is now more detailed in its reflection of migration throughout a person’s life than previously used. Usage of the new data source has shown to increase out-migration for most institutions, decreasing impact and investment results.

These and other changes mark a considerable upgrade to the Emsi economic impact model. Our hope is that these improvements will provide a better product for our clients—reports that are more transparent and streamlined, methodology that is more comprehensive and robust, and findings that are more relevant and meaningful to today’s audiences.

While this report is useful in demonstrating the current value of Texas A&M–Texarkana, it is not intended for comparison with previous study conducted by Emsi in previous years. Due to the extent of the changes to Emsi’s model from past years, differences between results from the previous study and the present study do not necessarily indicate changes in the value of the university. Emsi encourages our readers to approach us directly with any questions or comments they may have about the study so that we can continue to improve our model and keep the public dialogue open about the positive impacts of education.

Executive summary

This report assesses the impact of Texas A&M University–Texarkana (A&M–Texarkana) on the regional economy and the benefits generated by the university for students, taxpayers, and society. The results of this study show that A&M–Texarkana creates a positive net impact on the regional economy and generates a positive return on investment for students, taxpayers, and society.