Tier One and the Economy
Achieving Tier One or National Research University status will have a transformative affect on Texas Tech. It will put Texas Tech into another category of universities, providing our students with unmatched educational opportunities. It also will expand the scope of Texas Tech’s research to meet the world’s needs and give a significant boost to the Lubbock economy.
These top institutions stand out for their elite faculty, students and academic programs; their commitment to teaching, research and service; and generally are recognized as having annual research expenditures of at least $100 million. The money they generate makes them substantial economic engines and they often serve as centerpieces of our country’s most vibrant cities.
Economists estimate that for every $10 million in annual research expenditures, 334 jobs and $8.6 million in wages are added to the local economy. When one considers the multiplier effect – an estimated $500,000 in added state and tax revenue, plus an extra $13.5 million in local sales – the total return on investment is 226 percent.
To put that in perspective, consider the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose alumni have founded more than 4,000 companies. Collectively, those businesses employ 1.1 million people and generate $232 billion in sales, an amount roughly equal to the economic output of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Not having more Tier One institutions hurts Texas, too. It leaves on the table $3.7 billion annually in federal research dollars and venture capital because our existing Tier One institutions don’t have sufficient capacity to conduct the additional research those dollars would produce. Each year more than 10,000 Texas high school graduates attend doctoral-granting institutions in other states because Texas doesn’t have enough Tier One choices. This “brain drain” has increased 54% in the last 6 years.