The Impact of Stony Brook University on the Long Island Economy
(Center for Regional Policy Studies, Spring 2008)

Stony Brook University is a crucial and irreplaceable asset to the Long Island economy.  The University, Long Island’s largest single-site employer, provides nearly 14,000 men and women with full- or part-time jobs.  As Long Island’s only public research university, Stony Brook produces the educated workforce that drives the area’s high-tech economy.

Summary of Findings

1. The total operating budget for 2007-2008 is $1.77 billion. Direct state tax support accounts for $207.2 million, or 11.7 percent of the total (not including $147.8 million in fringe benefits, which brings the state share up to almost 20 percent).
   
2. The average salary of employees at Stony Brook is $76,010. This compares with a regional average salary in all industries of $47,913.
   
   
3. Stony Brook economic development programs bring an additional $59.4 million in economic revenue to the Long Island region (not including federal, state, and other revenue included in the operating budget).
   
   
4. Students and their families spend an additional $175.6 million in the Long Island economy not captured in the operating budget. When this is added to the $2.9 million spent by University student government—a non-operating budget item— this translates into an additional 2,588 local jobs.
   
   
5. Retired Stony Brook employees living on Long Island receive approximately $97.3 million in income from state pension payments and Social Security. This translates into an estimated 1,421 local jobs.
   
   
6. In 2007-2008 Stony Brook operating expenditures (wages and salaries plus utilities, minus estimated employee expenditures for health care) are estimated to be $929.1 million. The multiplier effect, or secondary impact, of Stony Brook operating expenditures, as determined by the Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II) developed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce, generates an estimated $1.73 billion in increased economic output to the regional economy and 28,989 additional jobs.
   
   
7. In 2007-2008 Stony Brook employees will spend an estimated $61.7 million on health care. The multiplier effect, or secondary impact, of employee health care expenditures generates an estimated $123.6 million in additional economic output to the regional economy and 2,308 additional jobs.
   
   
8. In 2007-2008 Stony Brook expenditures on construction that do not appear in the operating budget are estimated to be $152.3 million. An estimated $91.4 million, or 60 percent, of construction spending stays within the Long Island economy. The multiplier effect, or secondary impact, of construction spending generates an estimated $177.9 million in additional economic output to the regional economy and 2,431 additional jobs.
   
   
9. In 2007-2008 it is estimated that Stony Brook will spend $802.9 million on equipment and supplies. An estimated $200.7 million, or 25 percent, of equipment and supplies expenditures stays within the Long Island economy. The multiplier effect, or secondary impact, of spending on equipment and supplies generates an estimated $372.7 million in additional economic output to the regional economy and 9,113 additional jobs.
   
   
10. In total, Stony Brook University’s impact on the Long Island economy amounts to $4.65 billion in increased output, or gross regional domestic product, and 59,859 jobs.
    
    
11. The economic impact of Stony Brook University accounts for almost 4 percent of all economic activity in the Nassau/Suffolk counties region, and roughly 7.5 percent of total jobs in Suffolk County.
    
    
12. The regional economy receives $4.7 billion from the state’s direct investment of $207.2 million in tax dollars. This represents a 2,300 percent return, or an economic gain of $23 for every dollar the state invests.