2021 Wichita State University Dynamic Impacts Across Kansas released
Nov. 2, 2020
By WSU Strategic Communications
Contact: Jeremy Hill, director, W. Frank Barton School of Business Center for Economic Development
and Business Research, 316-213-3673 or jeremy.hill@wichita.edu.
Wichita State University's Center for Economic Development and Business Research has
released an economic impact analysis of Wichita State University. This report gives
an analysis of the dynamic impact WSU has on Wichita, the region and the state economies.
WSU was estimated to have contributed $1 billion in economic activity within Kansas.
The university and its spending supported more than 4,500 jobs in Sedgwick County,
almost 600 jobs in the other nine counties of the Wichita region, and more than 600
jobs in the rest of Kansas.
University tourist activities, such as sporting events and conferences, attracted
more than 200,000 tourists to the area and contributed more than $60 million to the
local economy. WSU alumni were estimated to have total annual earnings of more than
$4.6 billion, approximately $2.4 billion higher than they would have earned with a
high school diploma alone.
Wichita State University serves as the Kansas urban-based research university, enrolling
more than 15,000 students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries.
Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation
driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in
the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM),
Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of
applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one
of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing
over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.