With taxpayers investing thousands of dollars to support education opportunities at Cerritos College annually, many local residents want to know how the existence of the college is helping them and the local community. In a report issued by CCbenefits Inc., a company that works in conjunction with the Association of Community College Trustees to estimate the benefits generated by community colleges for all stakeholders, the following benefits of Cerritos College were noted.

Regional

The existence of Cerritos College accounts for $301.5 million of all annual earnings in the Los Angeles County economy. The earnings generated by the college are roughly 6,381 jobs. For example, in 2001, Cerritos College had operating expenses of $84.4 million in the fiscal year, with $43.6 million (52 percent) of this spent in Los Angeles County to purchase supplies and pay wages and salaries.

The college employs 634 full-time and 592 part-time faculty and staff. In the 2001 fiscal year, Cerritos College paid $67.9 million in faculty and staff wages. And there is an additional $234 million in wages and salaries generated off-campus in the Los Angeles County economy – this is commonly known as the multiplier affect. Therefore, all of Cerritos College’s direct spending generates outward spending as well.

Cerritos College activities also encourage new businesses, assist existing business and create long-term economic growth. It is estimated that the present-day Los Angeles County workforce embodies over 2.7 million credit and non-credit hours of past and present Cerritos College training.

Skills from current and former Cerritos College students increased wages and salaries in Los Angeles County by $97 million directly, and by another $120 million indirectly in fiscal 2001.

Students

The student’s benefit from the existence of Cerritos College is the most obvious. He or she invests the cost of tuition and current earnings for a lifetime of higher earnings. For every credit completed, Cerritos students will (on average) make an additional $157 a year for every year they are in the workforce. So for every full-time year they attend, they will make an additional $4,739 per year. In the aggregate (for all existing students) the higher earnings amount to some $23.3 million per year for each year they remain in the workforce.

From an investment standpoint, Cerritos students will enjoy a 28 percent rate of return on their investments of both time and money. For every $1 a student invests in his or her Cerritos education, he or she will receive a cumulative $11.70 in higher future earnings over the next 30 years or so. They payback period (to recover all costs) is 5.5 years.

Taxpayers

The state and local governments allocated $74.5 million in support of Cerritos College in fiscal 2001. For every dollar appropriated by state and local government, Cerritos’ spending alone generated $1.13 million in wages and salaries in Los Angeles County.

For every dollar appropriated by the state and local governments in the 2001 fiscal year, student earnings will increase by an average of $0.31 per year, every year through the rest of their lives. Noting that 75 percent of students stay in the local region and contribute to the local economy after graduation this adds up to be a significant amount of income generated in the local sector by Cerritos College students and alumni.

Likewise, for every state dollar appropriated to Cerritos College, Los Angeles County will see social savings of $0.12 per year, every year, in reduced incarceration and health care expenditures, reduced expenditures on unemployment and welfare, and reduced absenteeism. The total cost savings for avoided expenditures is $8.7 million per year.

Within 12.8 years, all state and local government support for Cerritos College in fiscal 2001 will be recovered via higher tax receipts (higher wages) and avoided costs (welfare, incarceration, etc.) at a rate of return of 5.3 percent.

So in terms of investments, Cerritos College is a sound investment not only for the student but for the community as well. Not only does Cerritos College enrich the lives of students while reducing the demand for taxpayer-supported social services, but it also contributes to the vitality of both the local and state economies. In any definition…that is sound business.