Moore School research indicates more jobs, higher incomes, ramped up production would result

By WAYNE WASHINGTON
wwashington@thestate.com

South Carolina would gain nearly 45,000 permanent jobs each year and generate $7.8 billion from goods and services if the state’s higher education system becomes one of the best in the nation, according to a study released Wednesday by the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business.

Public colleges and universities across the state are bracing for budget cuts as South Carolina’s economy remains weak. But the $100,000 study, conducted from December 2008 to June and paid for by the S.C. Commission on Higher Education’s Study Committee, said the state needs to direct more — not fewer — resources to higher education.

“The Moore School report demonstrates that higher education is the smartest financial investment South Carolina can make,” said Ken Wingate, chairman of the commission. “If South Carolina doesn’t focus on higher education, it will fall further behind in the knowledge economy, becoming the equivalent of a third-world nation inside the United States.”

The study sets improving the state’s percentage of working-age residents — those 25 to 65 years old — with bachelor’s degrees as the primary goal.

Doug Woodward, the USC economist who led the study, said about 24 percent of working-age South Carolinians have bachelor’s degrees.

Boosting that percentage to 29 percent by 2030 would bring significant benefits, Woodward said, including generating:

• $6.9 billion in new annual personal income
• $7.8 billion in gross state product
• 44,514 permanent jobs per year
• ”Higher education is the ticket to raising our standard of living,” Woodward said. “I can’t think of any other way to do it.”

The study predicted that after reaching that 2030 goal, the state would get $25 for each $1 spent on higher education.

There would be other, more individual benefits for those living in a state with a more educated population, the study noted.

College-educated workers are less likely to be unemployed, imprisoned or in need of costly government services. They also are more likely to have access to health care.

“This study reveals that funding for education is not simply providing a vital public service, but is an investment in South Carolina’s future with multiple economic and social returns,” the report noted.

Last year, the General Assembly reduced state funding for colleges and universities by nearly $181 million, a 23.9 percent cut.

USC president Harris Pastides recently told the university’s board of trustees he expects the school’s state funding to be reduced by about 4 percent this year.

Marshall White, president of Midlands Technical College, said his school is bracing for a cut of about that size or slightly larger.

Woodward said cuts to higher education will hurt.

“It’s definitely going to set us back,” he said, adding it could postpone the date the state reaches the goal of having 29 percent of its working-age residents with bachelor’s degrees.

“We might not reach it by 2030, but we’ll get there. This is attainable.”

Reach senior writer Wayne Washington at (803) 771-8385.

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