As a group, Consortium member institutions represent one of the largest employers in the area, employing more than 16,000 full-and part-time staff, with 4,000 of these individuals residing in Worcester.
Consortium releases annual report
Contributions of higher education detailed
Release Date:
November 20, 2008
Worcester, MA - The Colleges of Worcester Consortium, Inc. has released its 2007-2008 Annual Report entitled "Celebrating the Contributions of Higher Education to Worcester County."
In a year when the only major Massachusetts industries showing any appreciable growth were education and health services, Consortium colleges and universities, with their 30,000 students and 11,000 faculty and staff, continued to have a strong impact on Worcester County.
The Consortium and its member institutions were instrumental in helping to bring the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts (pictured at right) to downtown Worcester last year. In October 2007, 11 Consortium institutions collectively pledged $950,000 to the project which helped leverage the additional dollars needed for completion.
Some key Consortium 2007-2008 statistics in the report include:
- 15,800 Worcester County residents attended Consortium colleges
- $43 million in scholarships was offered to Worcester County residents
- $90 million was spent on goods and services in Worcester County
- $400 million was paid in payroll to Worcester County residents
- $550,000 was paid in real estate taxes to the City of Worcester
- 9,900 students spent 590,000 hours in service to more than 450 organizations for an estimated value of $11 million
- 1,800 middle and high school students in the Worcester Public Schools and 1,500 area adults were served by the Consortium's higher education access programs
"As one of the largest industries in Central Massachusetts, we continue to harness our collective energies in the areas of economic development and civic engagement," said Consortium CEO Mark P. Bilotta.
In addition to the collective efforts of the colleges, the report also contains pages dedicated to each of the 13 Consortium institutions which outline contributions made to economic development and community engagement on an individual basis.
View the 2007-2008 Annual Report (in animated page-turning format with images)