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Local Expenditures

The University and Affiliates

Total direct spending by the university and its affiliates in the NRRV and Montgomery County was estimated to be $175 million and $163 million, respectively.

Although the total expenditure of Virginia Tech and its affiliates was more than $690 million during FY 1999, payments to local faculty and staff members and students were not included in this direct spending analysis because they are part of individual spending. Also not included were spending by the Virginia Cooperative Extension offices outside of the NRRV, and spending by the Northern Virginia Center, the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, and the Center for European Studies and Architecture in Switzerland.

The remaining non-wage expenditures were broken down into 949 expenditure accounts. A similar process was used to derive the expenditure pattern of the Virginia Tech Foundation. Expenditures of other Virginia Tech affiliates were obtained from representatives of each program and were broken down into operating expenses, salaries and wages, and fringe benefits.

Undergraduate Students

Undergraduates spend approximately $81.1 million locally each year. The main economic impact of undergraduate students, however, results from their local spending of money obtained from university employment, stipends, and other non-local sources. This figure, called "net local spending," was estimated at $66.4 million after subtracting non-Virginia Tech wages earned by the students, which was estimated at $14.7 million.

The expenditure pattern of students was estimated using a survey distributed to students during the fall 1999 semester. The survey asked about monthly student spending in various categories, student employment, and whether the student stays in the local area over the summer break.

Based on the survey, the average undergraduate student spends approximately $425 per month locally, not including expenditures at Virginia Tech, such as dining plans, dormitory room rental, and tuition. The average annual expenditure per student is then multiplied by the total number of students to derive total expenditures.

The average undergraduate earns approximately $1,190 per year locally for a total of $24.7 million each year for all undergraduates. About $10 million came from university employment earnings and $14.7 million from non-Virginia Tech local earnings.

Graduate Students

Local spending by graduate students was analyzed separately using a procedure similar to the one used to analyze undergraduate expenditures. Data on graduate student expenditures was gathered at various on-campus locations and using an Internet-based survey. The average reported local expenditure was slightly more than $1,000 per month, or $10,878.30 per year, not including payments made to the university.

Graduate Expenditure Patterns

Virginia Tech Employees

Spending by all non-student employees of Virginia Tech and its affiliates was analyzed as a single group. It is assumed that the total expenditure (local and non-local) of university employees is equal to their disposable income paid by the university, or $224 million each year.

Using survey data from the 1992 economic impact study, this study then estimated the proportion of disposable income spent in various categories and the amount spent on-campus and outside the NRVV.

Student Visitors

Estimated Totals for Miscellaneous Student Visitors

Conference Visitors

Virginia Tech hosted almost 28,000 conference visitors last year, mostly through its continuing education programs. It is estimated that these visitors spent more than 74,000 person-days in the NRRV and about 46,000 person-nights. A budget was created for conference visitors by adjusting national conference visitor survey data and state government per-diem allowances for local conditions. Using this approach, it was estimated that these visitors spend approximately $8.8 million annually in the NRRV and $4.8 million in Montgomery County.

Estimated Total Expenditures for Conference Visitors

Football Game Attendees

Football games attract a large number of out-of-town visitors to Virginia Tech. These visitors purchase goods and services using money derived from non-local sources and therefore impact the local economy. To estimate the impact of football visitors, surveys were distributed during two Virginia Tech football games, Syracuse and Miami. About 350 non-NRRV visitors returned usable surveys at both games. Based on the survey, the average expenditure per visitor was $81.75 per game, spent over an average stay of 1.6 days.

According to the zip codes of season ticket holders, it was estimated that 29 percent of the attendees at each game came from outside the NRRV, and 39 percent came from outside Montgomery County. Using this figure and the reported attendance at the six home games, it was estimated that there were approximately 92,769 non-NRRV football visitors and 126,474 visitors from outside the county during the 1999 season. These visitors spent approximately $7.6 million and $10.3 million, respectively.

Total Local Spending by Football Visitors

Overall Visitor Spending

Overall, the direct impact of spending by out-of-area university-related visitors was about $26.9 million in the NRRV and $25.3 million in Montgomery County. Based on these findings and Virginia Tourism Corporation data, Virginia Tech visitors accounted for about 40 percent of the travel-related expenditures made in Montgomery County. Visitors attending non-football sporting events are not considered in this study. Many of these visitors come from the local area and therefore produce no local impact. However, a very small proportion of these visitors undoubtedly are from outside the study regions. Therefore, the estimated overall visitor is somewhat conservative.

Direct Visitor Spending by Study Area