'We are uplifting people': MTSU boosts bigger, better numbers in latest economic report

Gary Estwick, Murfreesboro Daily News Journal
·2 min read

Even a global pandemic failed to halt Middle Tennessee State University’s increasing impact on Rutherford County, Nashville and the rest of the Volunteer State.

The university was responsible for more than $1.42 billion in economic impact and nearly 11,500 jobs statewide in 2021, according to a new economic report released Thursday morning.

“It generally tells me that MTSU is critical as an institution for the future of this region, this county and middle Tennessee,” said Murat Arik, director of the Business and Economic Research Center at MTSU’s Jones College of Business.

“It also tells you something about what’s going on in terms of the infrastructure in the region, the investment. We are hoping once this virus goes away, we can also see (enrollment) picking up.”

The jobs data positions MTSU as Murfreesboro’s second-largest employer (2,270), generating $143.6 million in local, state and federal tax revenue.

MTSU alumni, meanwhile, accounted for nearly two out of every five college graduates last year in Rutherford County, as well as one out of six in the Greater Nashville area.

During the same year, MTSU committed more than $135 million to campus construction and renovation projects – nearly triple its typical, annual investment.

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While continued enrollment declines are troubling, Arik said he was pleased to discover 41% of MTSU’s graduates in 2021 were first-generation Pell-eligible students – deriving from families with reported incomes less than $30,000.

“They are ready for their professional life,” Arik said. “We are uplifting people from poverty-level income.”

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, left, and MTSU Board of Trustees members J.B. Baker, left, Darrell Freeman, Steve Smith and Pete Delay sign the ceremonial final beam to be placed at the top of the School of Concrete and Construction Management building Tuesday, Sept. 14, in the Bragg Parking lot adjacent to the construction site. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

Other key stats from MTSU's 2021 economic report

  • MTSU boosted the largest number of adult learners among the state’s public universities – nearly one out of four students. Meanwhile, adult learners were also responsible for 28% of MTSU’s graduation rate.

  • Stay in TN: 90% of MTSU’s 20,857 students hailed from the Volunteer State. Meanwhile, 79% of MTSU’s alumni remain in Tennessee following graduation.

  • Slightly more than one third of MTSU students (35%) hailed from Rutherford County. Students also arrived from Davidson (16), Williamson (10) and Wilson (five) counties.

  • Nearly 4% of MTSU’s 2021 graduating class were veterans; veteran dependents accounted for about 2%.

  • In 2021, MTSU accounted for one out of every six public university undergraduate degrees in Tennessee.

The full study is available at https://www.mtsu.edu/berc/research.php.

Story idea? News tip? Question about a story? Gary Estwick can be reached at 931-245-0282. He also can be reached at gestwick@gannett.com and on Twitter @garyestwick.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU's economic impact in 2021 is stunning