Dear Alumni and Friends,
The spring semester is well underway at South Dakota State University as our faculty and staff continue to provide opportunities for our students to remain on campus and in the classroom while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. We have never wavered from our mission to keep students on track toward graduation so they may fill critical jobs and roles in our evolving society. I am appreciative of the effort everyone at SDSU has made to achieve this goal.
The fall semester brought many highlights. We enjoyed our traditional campus events in the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center, student organization gatherings and Hobo Day. We also watched our women’s soccer team and the cross country teams win Summit League championships, the volleyball team’s magical run to the conference tournament semifinals, and our football team come one win away from a return trip to Frisco, Texas. It was a successful fall sports season.
We announced a lead gift and other significant donations for the renovation of the Stanley J. Marshall Center and Frost Arena as they will become the First Bank & Trust Arena. The arena is home to many of our athletics teams but is also a vital part of the campus experience by hosting lectures, future concerts and commencement ceremonies. The renovation will give us a first-class venue for all these events, and it is our plan for construction to begin this spring following commencement ceremonies.
During the fall, the South Dakota Board of Regents released an economic impact study that was commissioned in July 2021, detailing the overall economic impact of the BOR and its six degree-granting member institutions. It was determined that, overall, public higher education in FY19 accounted for $2.1 billion of total economic impact to our state.
SDSU, as part of the study, was responsible for $936.3 million—nearly 50% — of the BOR’s overall impact. We continue to drive the public higher education system and positively impact many parts of the state and particularly Brookings County.
The BOR conducted economic impact studies in 2009, 2016 and 2019 prior to this one. Since the first study, SDSU has increased its overall yearly economic impact by $170 million, or 22% over nine years. The study also determined 52% of our graduates remain in South Dakota and have a direct economic impact of $100.8 billion over a 40-year period.
In terms of tax revenue, the university produced more than $31.5 million in state and county taxes during the FY19 year, a number that includes a student tax benefit of $2,742 due to jobs and local spending. The benefit comes from an average of $8,860 of local spending by students who live off campus, and every student at SDSU produces an average yearly economic impact of more than $81,000 and .36 jobs to the state and community. The student population is vital to our community and its economic health.
Research and scholarly activities on campus also play an important role as $67.6 million in research expenditures in FY19 at SDSU generated $104.5 million in economic impact, supported by 603 jobs. That equates to a return of $1.54 on every $1 spent on research.
It is clear we have a tremendous impact to our state and region and that is reflected by everyone’s efforts to make SDSU a premier land-grant university. I thank you for those efforts and could not be prouder to be part of the SDSU family.
Thank you for being a part of SDSU.
Go Jacks!
Sincerely,
Barry H. Dunn
President
