Florida State's Economic Impact

Key Facts and Figures about
Florida State University’s Economic Impact
on Tallahassee and Leon County
2021-2022

Last Updated: August 2022

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Overview

FSU’s Tallahassee-area campuses include over 400 buildings and cover over 1,600 acres.^[1]The bulk of these facilities are located on the main campus (Leon County Campus), near downtown Tallahassee. Other locations include the Rez Lakefront Park, the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering facility and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
FSU is an institution of 45,493 students, including 36,813 Florida residents. 43,999 of those students attend class on the Leon County campus.^[2] The university’s total operating budget for 2020-2021 academic year was $1.6 billion, and the budget for 2021-2022 was approximately $2.1 billion.^[3]
In 2021, FSU employed 14,226 people across all departments. 6,469 of them were regular-salaried, full-time employees. An additional 114 persons were employed on a regular-salary part-time classification, and the remaining 7,643 were employed under OPS classification.^[4]
In September of 2022, Tallahassee City Commissioners adopted a $774.2 million operating budget for the 2022 fiscal year. This is approximately $31 million more than the FY21 operating budget.^[5]FSU’s operating budget for FY2021-2022 was $2.17 billion, more than double that of the City of Tallahassee.
University operating revenues totaled $697.7 million for the 2020-2021 FY, a $107.3 million increase from 2019-2020. Operating expenses totaled $1.43 billion for the 2020-21 FY, up over $34 million from 2019-20. Net non-operating revenues totaled $735.85 million for the 2020-21 FY, a decrease of $61 million from the 2019-20 FY.^[6]
The average bi-weekly payroll for all FSU system employees was $35,143,500 and the total payroll for fiscal year 2021 (including gross salaries and employer paid benefits and taxes) was $913,732,000.^[7]

Faculty, Staff, and Alumni

University faculty and staff contribute to their local economy through their purchasing power and taxes. In 2022, the average monthly rent payment in Tallahassee was $1,424. Full-time salaried employee, faculty and staff contributions were estimated to be $9,211,856 per month or $110,542,272 annually.^[8]These contributions do not account for part-time OPS employees.
It is estimated that the average resident of Leon County, with a population of 292,817, paid $891 in sales taxes to the county (in 2021).^[9] The 2,594 traditional faculty members are estimated to have contributed $2,311,254 in sales taxes to Leon County in 2021. All 6,469 full-time salaried employees contributed $5,763,879 in sales tax in 2020.^[10]
Florida State University employees have won seven Nobel prizes, first in 1933 and most recently in 2016. The university currently employs two Pulitzer Prize winners and 11 Guggenheim Fellowship professors. Every year since 2000, at least one FSU faculty member has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship. Three FSU faculty members were endowed as Fulbright Scholars for the 2017-18 school year, and nine FSU faculty members were awarded Fulbrights in 2019-2020.^[11]
As of April 2021, some 224,427 of 371,516 living FSU alumni lived and worked in Florida, with 42,517 in Leon County This concentration of FSU alumni was higher than anywhere in the state.^[12]

Research

Total Research Expenditures (external only) were $221.1 million for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, a 7 million decrease from the previous fiscal year.^[13]
The total amount of Sponsored Research Contract and Grants (C&G) awards received during FY 2021-2022 was $275 million, a $25 million increase from the previous fiscal year. $238 million of these contracts and grants were from the federal government, $23.1 million from the state and local government and $13.9 million privately funded.^[14]
FSU researchers received $250.1 million in funding for fiscal year 2020, $17 million more than 2019. Funds came from federal, state and private sources.^[15]
Since FY 2005-06, the FSU Research Foundation has allocated $250,000 annually under the Grant Assistance Program (GAP), a funding mechanism to help FSU researchers transfer their work from the laboratory to the commercial market.^[16]

Students

FSU students spend substantially in the area. Students spend money on tuition, books, school supplies, housing, food, transportation, clothing and entertainment. These expenditures vary by the residency status and degree level of each student. Student spending by Florida State University students, both in funds spent in the area and in funds spent at the university, totaled $891 million in fiscal year 2019.^[17]
Costs for students attending Florida State University depend on each student’s living situation and residency status. Florida residents living on campus or in an off-campus apartment paid an estimated $23,476 during the 2021-2022 academic year, while Florida residents living with their parents paid $12,004. This includes tuition, housing, books, transportation and other personal expenses.Non-Florida residents living on campus or in an off-campus apartment paid an estimated $36,606 during the 2021-2022 academic year, and non-residents living with their parents paid $25,134.^[18]
The 43,999 students at FSU’s Leon County campus are estimated to have contributed $39.2 million in sales taxes to Leon County in 2021. This accounts for about 15% of total estimated sales tax revenue to Leon County in 2021.^[19]^,^[20]^,^[21]

Capital Expenditures

FSU currently has $403,977,211 dedicated to underway major projects and $118,341,922 allocated for minor projects.^[22]^,^[23]These projects are funded through the FSU budget, bondholders, FCO grants, PECO allocations, departmental funding, ESCO budget allocations and private donations.^[24]
FSU receives funding for capital expansion projects through the State of Florida’s Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO). In fiscal year 2020-21, FSU received $2,334,038 in PECO appropriationsfor developmental research.^[25]
FSU is Tallahassee’s top user of electricity, using 5.98%. The State of Florida and the City of Tallahassee share second place, using 3.51%. In 2021, the university used more electricity than Florida A&M University (1.59%), Leon County government (1.76%), Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (1.65%) and Walmart (0.71%) combined.^[26]

Visitors to FSU

For the first two quarters of FY 2021, the economic impact of tourism on Leon County was over $382 million. It was estimated that by the end of FY 2021, tourism would have had an economic impact of $690 million. Based on estimates of the number of total visitors to Leon County in FY 2021, each visitor to Leon County on average generated $431.1 to the local economy during their visit.^[27]
Football-game weekends bring in a significant amount of tourism to Leon County. Out-of-town attendees typically total $47.8 million in direct spending during FSU’s seven home games.^[28]
FSU home games hosted an average of 58,679 attendees per game for 2021, with a season-high attendance of 71,917 for the University of Miami game.^[29] In the Fall 2020 season, FSU football attracted 219,600 out-of-town visitors to Leon County.^[30]
Visiting teams book an average of 160 room nights in Tallahassee per game during football season. In 2021, FSU hosted seven home football games in Tallahassee.^[31] At an average Tallahassee hotel stay cost of $145 per night on weekends, FSU visiting teams contributed at least $162,400 in lodging.^[32]
In addition to football, FSU varsity sports such as baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer and golf bring participants and visitors who contribute to the local economy. Visiting baseball teams booked an average of 75 room nights per weekend. FSU also hosted 13 home volleyball games in which participants booked an average of 50 room nights per weekend. In total, baseball and volleyball generate an additional $211,225 in direct impact through participant lodging in Tallahassee.^[33]
Visitors also booked 74,427 nights and spent $10,437,000 on lodging. On average, out-of-town attendees to football games spent $479 per day and $1,246 per trip.^[34] In a typical season, football home games result in $102.1 million of economic impact on Leon County.^[35]
Opening Nights at FSU performances and educational events attracted over 10,000 attendees during the 2021-2022 season.^[36]

Camps

In the 2021-2022 academic year, FSU athletic camps had over 7,500 attendees: 2,007 in football, 1,799 in men’s basketball, 899 in softball, 843 in women’s volleyball, 625 in women’s soccer, 520 in baseball, 438 in women’s basketball, 126 in cross-country/track, 120 in swimming, 79 in beach volleyball, 73 in men’s tennis, and 36 in men’s and women’s golf.^[37]
There are over 20 academic and civics camps in session throughout the university every year, and thousands of school students attend.
In the summer of 2021, 751 campers attended camps at the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee.^[38]
12,565 Florida K-12 students and teachers attended programs offered by the College of Arts & Sciences’ Office of STEM Teaching Activities in the 2021-2022 academic year. In the year before the pandemic, the STEM programs had 60,541 attendees.^[39]
Every year, FSU Summer Workshop for Young Dancers recruits 45-55 middle and high school students from across the nation.^[40]
14 different music camps are offered every summer at FSU. In 2021, FSU Music Camps’ face-to-face enrollment was over 1,400 students. During the summer of 2020, camps provided 41 free virtual classes to over 5,000 students. More than 70% of the eligible students who have attended the camps eventually enroll at FSU in majors across the university.^[41]

FSU Foundation & Volunteer Work

Total expenses of the FSU Foundation increased 22.9% ($11.17 million) from 2020 to 2021.^[42]
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, the FSU Foundation allocated $69,838,253 in total gift commitments. Total gifts included $12,958,637 in pledges, $3,445,201 gifts-in-kind, $34,372,879 in deferred gifts and $19,061,536 in cash and securities.^[43]
Total university endowments totaled $897,570,109, an increase of $197,657,364 from FY2019-2020; FSU Foundation endowments were $668,925,555, an increase of $166,687,478 from FY2019-2020.^[44]
These commitments were given by a total of 14,413 donors. 67% were alumni/attendees, 2% current students, 5.6% parents and 14% friends of the university. The remaining donors were a conglomerate of faculty, staff, corporations and partner foundations.^[45]
The gift commitments from the FSU Foundation were allocated to various departments at the university. $12,019,670 were allocated for student financial aid, $2,899,215 to the faculty and staff, $3,607,582 for public service, $2,308,824 for property and infrastructure, $14,751,898 for the academic divisions, $12,384 toward research, $315,960 toward Strozier Library and $33,676,466 for other restricted purposes. The remaining funds were allocated for other unrestricted purposes, such as physical plants and loans.^[46]
FSU received a $100 million gift in 2015 from Jan Moran and the Jim Moran Foundation to create the Jim Moran School of Entrepreneurship, which later became a college. In 2016, Brian and Kathryn Ballard gifted real estate to the university to serve as the headquarters for the institute.^[47]
For the 2021-2022 academic year, 4,670 FSU students reported a total of 205,494.75 hours of volunteer work through the FSU ServScript Program. Using the value of a volunteer hour as determined by independentsector.org, this contribution of service hours saved local communities, governments and nonprofit organizations approximately $6,154,568.^[48]

Economic Impact

In fiscal year 2019-20, FSU generated $1.5 billion of direct revenue or expense. Including indirect effects, FSU contributed $2.9 billion worth of indirect industry output (revenue/sales) and 35,907 jobs.^[49]
Including indirect effects, economic activity generated by FSU in fiscal year 2019-2020 supported $1.5 billion in labor income, $523 million in property income and $95 million in business taxes.^[50]
In 2019, the present value of lifetime earnings of an FSU graduate with a bachelor’s degree was expected to be $499,241 more than a high school graduate.^[51]

Compiled by the FSU Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis

Footnotes

[1] Florida State University Facilities 2022
[2] Florida State University Office of Institutional Research Fall 2021
[3] Florida State University Budget Office
[4] Florida State University Office of Institutional Research Fall 2021
[5] City of Tallahassee Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Report
[6] Controller’s Florida State University Annual Report 2020-2021
[7] Florida State University Annual Report, Jerris Edwards, Assistant Controller, personal communication
[8] See: www.rentcafe.com 2022
[9] US Census Bureau Leon County Population Estimates
[10] Florida State University Office of Institutional Research Fall 2021
[11] Florida State University Faculty Honors and Awards
[12] Florida State University Office of Institutional Research Fact Book
[13] FSU Office of Research Annual Research Statistics
[14] FSU Office of Research Annual Research Statistics
[15] Florida State University News
[16] FSU Research Foundation Office of Commercialization
[17] Economic Contributions of the State University System of Florida 2019-2020. Expenditures included are tuition and fees, room and board costs, supplies, transportation, clothing, health, and other personal expenditures. See: www.cefa.fsu.edu
[18] Univstats.com – Paying for Florida State University
[19] US Census Bureau Leon County Population Estimates
[20] Florida State University Office of Institutional Research Fall 2021
[21] Florida Department of Revenue
[22] FSU Major Construction Project 2020-2021 List
[23] FSU Minor Construction Project List 2020-2021
[24] FSU Major Construction Project 2020-2021 List
[25] FSU 2020-2021 Capital Outlay Project Plan
[26] City of Tallahassee Annual Report to Bondholders, September 2021
[27] FY 2022 Leon County Division of Tourism
[28] Downs and St. Germain Research 2021, Florida State Football: Estimated Economic Impact on Leon County. Note that these numbers are pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
[29] NCAA FSU Attendance Statistics
[30] Jason Dennard, Associate Athletics Director of Marketing and New Revenue Generation, personal communication.
[31] ESPN College Football Team Schedule 2021
[32] Jason Dennard, Associate Athletics Director of Marketing and New Revenue Generation, personal communication
[33] Jason Dennard, Associate Athletics Director of Marketing and New Revenue Generation, personal communication
[34] Downs and St. Germain Research 2014, Florida State Football: Estimated Economic Impact on Leon County. Adjusted to 2020 dollars.
[35] Downs and St. Germain Research 2020 Economic Impact of FSU Football to Leon County.
[36] Lori Elliott, Development Director of Opening Nights at FSU, personal communication. Note that at the time of communication, Opening Nights still had three events planned. Events were limited by the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance in a normal year exceeds 20,000.
[37] Grant Escue, Senior Director of Compliance, Department of Athletics, FSU. Personal communication. Note that 2021-2022 athletic camps were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
[38] Robert Berg, Business Manager, Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee. Personal communication. Note that summer camp attendance at the Challenger Learning Center have not reached pre-pandemic levels.
[39] Ellen Granger, Director of OSTA, personal communication. Note that attendance numbers were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Figures for the 2021-2022 academic year include two of three semesters (Fall 21 and Spring 22). Figure for the year before the pandemic is from the 2018-2019 academic year.
[40] Stephanie Mills, Academic Services Coordinator, personal communication.
[41] FSU College of Music Summer Music Camps
[42] FSU Foundation 2021 Annual Report on Giving
[43] FSU Foundation 2021 Annual Report on Giving
[44] FSU Foundation 2021 Annual Report on Giving
[45] FSU Foundation 2021 Annual Report on Giving
[46] FSU Foundation 2021 Annual Report on Giving
[47] See: www.Business.fsu.edu/jmi
[48] Erin Philpot, Assistant Director for Leadership & Identity, personal communication. Note that much of the volunteer work performed by FSU students is not report to ServScript, so the impact of volunteer work is likely much greater. The figures for Spring 2022 were tentative at the time of communication. In addition, COVID restrictions had an impact on volunteer opportunities for FSU students in the 2021 academic year. See www.independentsector.org for value calculation.
[49] Economic Contributions of the State University System of Florida in 2019-2020, see: www.cefa.fsu.edu
[50] Economic Contributions of the State University System of Florida in 2019-2020, see: www.cefa.fsu.edu
[51] Economic Contributions of the State University System of Florida in 2019-2020, see: www.cefa.fsu.edu

Florida State's Economic Impact

Key Facts and Figures about Florida State University’s Economic Impact on Tallahassee and Leon County 2021-2022

Overview

Faculty, Staff, and Alumni

Research

Students

Capital Expenditures

Visitors to FSU

Camps

FSU Foundation & Volunteer Work

Economic Impact

Footnotes

Key Facts and Figures about
Florida State University’s Economic Impact
on Tallahassee and Leon County
2021-2022