Auburn University and its alumni make a $6.3 billion economic contribution to Alabama, including creating more than 30,000 jobs beyond university employment, a new study says.
“Auburn is hard at work for the state of Alabama and continues to be a critical economic engine for the state in building meaningful partnerships through impactful outreach, fostering innovation in the way of renowned research and fueling a talent pipeline of highly successful alumni,” said Auburn President Christopher B. Roberts.
The impact is based on numbers from the 2021-2022 fiscal year, according to Auburn’s Division of University Outreach, which performed the study.
The impact combines two measures – $2.53 billion in direct and indirect economic impact and $3.81 billion in the earning power of graduates who live in Alabama. The study says the university is responsible for creating 30,296 jobs in addition to its own direct employment.
The study noted the university’s strong numbers during a time period affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting international economic downturn caused significant restrictions on Auburn’s business, travel, instructional delivery, campus activities and other operations during the last study,” the study states. “Auburn’s robust institutional capacity and nimble operating responses during COVID allowed the institution to mitigate some of the downturn’s effects and still return a modest increase in impact and overall economic contributions during that challenging year.”
